All Saints, All Souls feasts are time to renew hope, pope says

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Nov 1, 2013

Pope Francis greets the crowd as he leads the Angelus from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Nov. 1, the feast of All Saints. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) — Pope Francis greets the crowd as he leads the Angelus from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Nov. 1, the feast of All Saints. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — At the end of the feast of All Saints, just before the sun set, Pope Francis celebrated an outdoor Mass at Rome’s Verano cemetery and urged Christians to hang on to hope as they reflect on the promise that earthly life ends with eternal life in heaven.

In his homily at the evening Mass Nov. 1, Pope Francis set aside his prepared text, looked out at the thousands of people gathered between long lines of tombs and told them, “We reflect and think about our own future and about all those who have gone before us and are now with the Lord.”

“The Lord God, beauty, goodness, truth, tenderness, the fullness of love — all that awaits us,” the pope said. “And all those who preceded us and died in the Lord are there,” in heaven with God.

Even the best of the saints were not saved by their good works, the pope said, but by the blood of Christ.

“God is the one who saves, he is the one who carries us like father — at the end of our lives — to that heaven where our forebears are,” he said.

The feast day reading from the 7th chapter of the Book of Revelation described a multitude of people from every race and nation standing before God. They were dressed in white, the pope said, because they were “washed in the blood of the Lamb. We can enter into heaven only thanks to the blood of the lamb, the blood of Christ.”

“If today we are remembering these brothers and sisters of ours who lived before us and are now in heaven, they are there because they were washed in the blood of Christ,” he said. “That is our hope, and this hope does not disappoint. If we live our lives with the Lord, he will never disappoint us.”

“We are children of God,” he said, and live in hope of one day seeing God as he is.

“On the feast of All Saints and before the Day of the Dead, it is important to think about hope,” he said.

The early Christians used an anchor as a symbol of hope, he said, and “to have our hearts anchored up there where our loved ones are, where the saints are, where Jesus is, where God is — that is hope. That is the hope that doesn’t disappoint.”

The feasts of All Saints and All Souls are “days of hope,” he said. The virtue of “hope is like a bit of leaven that enlarges your soul. There are difficult moments in life, but with hope you go forward and keep your eyes on what awaits us. Today is a day of hope; our brothers and sisters are in the presence of God, and we, too, will be there in the Lord’s arms if we follow the path of Jesus.”

“Before sunset today, each one of us can think of the sunset of our lives,” the pope said. “Do we look forward to it with hope and with the joy of being welcomed by the Lord?”

Throughout Italy, like in many predominantly Catholic countries, people take advantage of the All Saints public holiday to tidy up and take flowers to the graves of their loved ones on the eve of the Nov. 2 celebration of All Souls’ Day. After the Mass, Pope Francis was to visit some of those graves, praying for the deceased and blessing their tombs.

— By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

Free Birds: Intense, good fun with a tasty resolution

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Catholic News Service

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Oct 31, 2013

Scene from movie 'Free Birds' — The president of the United States, voiced by Jimmy Hayward, and Reggie, voiced by Owen Wilson, are seen in the animated movie "Free Birds." The Catholic News Service classification is A-I -- general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children. (CNS photo/Relativity)

The president of the United States, voiced by Jimmy Hayward, and Reggie, voiced by Owen Wilson, are seen in the animated movie "Free Birds." The Catholic News Service classification is A-I -- general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children. (CNS photo/Relativity) — The president of the United States, voiced by Jimmy Hayward, and Reggie, voiced by Owen Wilson, are seen in the animated movie “Free Birds.” The Catholic News Service classification is A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children. (CNS photo/Relativity)

NEW YORK (CNS) — Parents be warned: Your kids will want you to revise the Thanksgiving dinner menu once they see “Free Birds” (Relativity), a 3-D animated adventure about two rogue turkeys who travel back in time to change the “main course” of history.

Jimmy Hayward (“Horton Hears a Who!”) directs this zany but good-natured comedy, co-written with Scott Mosier (and having nothing to do with the Lynyrd Skynyrd song “Free Bird”). There’s something for every age wrapped up in a holiday-themed package, including cute-as-a-button characters, clever (but sometimes a bit rude) humor, a send-up of science fiction, and even a little (superficial) slice of American history.

There’s also a good message for the youngest viewers: Look out for each other, or someone may end up as dinner (literally).

Our turkey hero, Reggie (voice of Owen Wilson), is an outcast on the farm. He doesn’t follow the dimwitted flock, and his warnings about the farmer and his ax go unheeded — until, for some, it’s too late.

“Thanksgiving is a turkey’s worst nightmare,” Reggie says.

Out of nowhere, the president of the United States (voiced by director Hayward) arrives to choose a turkey to receive the official pardon prior to the national holiday. Reggie’s the one, and he is whisked to Camp David, where he lives in the lap of luxury.

Before long he is addicted to pizza (“much better than corn”) and obsessed with watching a romantic telenovela on TV.

His strange interlude ends when he is abducted by fellow bird Jake (voice of Woody Harrelson). As the founder of the “Turkey Freedom Front,” Jake enlists Reggie on a wild scheme: travel back to the first Thanksgiving in 1621, and keep turkey off the dinner table.

And so these turkeys hijack a time machine (voiced by George Takei of “Star Trek” fame) and land in Plymouth, Mass. There they meet up with their feathered ancestors, led by Chief Broadbeak (voice of Keith David) and his spunky daughter, Jenny (voice of Amy Poehler).

For Reggie and Jenny, it’s love at first peck, while Jake butts beaks with Jenny’s tough brother, Ranger (also voiced by Hayward), over leadership of the master plan.

The Pilgrims are a bumbling lot, grousing over the lack of food and ganging up on Governor Bradford (voice of Dan Fogler). It’s left to the sadistic Myles Standish (voice of Colm Meaney) and his pack of vicious dogs to hunt down the turkeys in time for that first dinner with the native Indians.

A rollicking adventure ensues, with echoes of the great escape in 2000’s “Chicken Run.” While some of the action sequences may be too intense at times for younger viewers (“Those turkeys are angry birds,” one Pilgrim quips), it’s all in good fun, and the tasty resolution, involving one of America’s favorite foods, is bound to please.

The film contains a few mildly perilous situations and some rude humor. The Catholic News Service classification is A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

— By Joseph McAleer, Catholic News Service. McAleer is a guest reviewer for Catholic News Service.

Students tip their hat to kindergartener with cancer

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Ambria Hammel

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Oct 31, 2013

Aututmn Chapman checks out that hat Shannon David, school nurse, wore in honor of Tip Your Hat to Autumn fundraiser Oct. 31 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Ambria Hammel/CATHOLIC SUN)

TEMPE — Students at Our Lady of Mount Carmel only slightly dressed up today. Their motive wasn’t candy, rather the cash and hope they could raise for children with cancer — particularly a kindergartener at the school.

The student council organized a Tip Your Hat to Autumn fundraiser in honor of Autumn Chapman, who was diagnosed with leukemia in June. Students paid $1 for the privilege of wearing a hat to school. They raised $400 through the effort. Preschool families and other donors kicked in another $300 with proceeds from a recent Art Walk.

Chapman, 5, plans to use the funds to purchase art supplies and toys for Phoenix Children’s Hospital. She has been a regular patient herself having just finished her third round of chemotherapy.

“She specifically noticed there weren’t any boy toys,” Chapman’s mom, Jacque, noted.

Proceeds from the hat day will change that. Students and staff sported everything from the principal’s “Dallas” cowboy hat to a classmate’s jungle-themed hat — the favorite one she spotted — to knitted and character designs to a fancy sombrero to baseball hats. Chapman’s personal favorite is her own minion hat, which her Dad’s co-worker knitted for her.

“The hardest part in our struggles is not having Autumn here,” her mom said. “It’s such an uplifting place of love and prayer and support.”

Chapman knew of her classmates’ prayer. She hears it when she’s there and gets prayers on her mom’s phone when she’s not. Two days earlier during treatment, their teacher sent a text message and class photo reminding Chapman that Jesus had her wrapped in His arms.

It’s a two-and-a-half-year journey from diagnosis until the end of treatment. Chapman will begin more intense treatment in early November and should return to school on a more regular basis after Christmas break.

Kindergarteners have a tangible reminder when their classmate can’t be there. Diamond, a giant stuffed monkey, sits in Chapman’s seat. The monkey has a backpack to leave encouraging notes for Chapman when she returns.

“For a kid who is battling cancer, she’s here more often than she’s not,” said Shannon David, school nurse and Chapman’s cancer buddy.

That’s important, according to the school nurse who approaching her second anniversary of being diagnosed with breast cancer.

“There’s nothing about cancer that’s normal. She has to have something normal that she knows she’s going to get back to,” David said.

School provides that sense of normalcy and a break for the Chapman family who also has a first-grader at the school and two young girls at home.

The Tip Your Hat to Autumn event deliberately came days shy of her birthday. Chapman had received so many gifts since her diagnosis that the family decided to bring gifts to the hospital as a birthday present.

She’s not the only kindergartner in the Diocese of Phoenix fighting leukemia either. A kindergartner at St. John Bosco in Ahwatukee is too. Team Karing for Karley will join the Light the Night Walk for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in Tempe Nov. 9. Her team is currently No. 3 on the leaderboard of top fundraisers for friends and family teams.

Second-graders, including one of Autumn Chapman's cousins, sported a hat Oct. 31 in honor of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel kindergartener. She is raising money for art supplies for fellow cancer patients. (Ambria Hammel/CATHOLIC SUN) — Second-graders, including one of Autumn Chapman’s cousins, sported a hat Oct. 31 in honor of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel kindergartener. She is raising money for art supplies for fellow cancer patients. (Ambria Hammel/CATHOLIC SUN)

Editor’s Note:

Other Catholic school students found ways to sport a variety of hats, celebrate Halloween and raise funds for worthy causes. Students at St. Louis the King School in Glendale paid $1 to wear a hat Oct. 23. Proceeds supported Cross Catholic Outreach, a ministry that helps students understand the problem of world hunger and whose missions help feed the poor around the world.

Each classroom at St. John Vianney School in Goodyear decorated a pumpkin, which was then donated to Cancer Treatment Center of America. Decorations can be seen by those who follow the school’s Facebook feed.

Donors established a lending iPad library for cancer patients at a children’s hospital in Florida in honor of a 6-year-old cancer survivor. Read article.

‘Red, White and Blue’ Mass to honor veterans

By

Joyce Coronel

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Oct 30, 2013

uniforms-page-6 — A display of uniforms worn by various members of the American military greeted guests who attended a reception following the first Red, White and Blue Mass in 2011. (Ambria Hammel/CATHOLIC SUN FILE PHOTO)

A display of uniforms worn by various members of the American military greeted guests who attended a reception following the first Red, White and Blue Mass in 2011. (Ambria Hammel/CATHOLIC SUN FILE PHOTO)

Arizona is home to more than half a million veterans who comprise roughly 11 percent of the state’s population. Deacon John Scott, who spent 35 years in the military and retired as a major general in 2003, is hoping many of them attend the Mass in their honor Nov. 3 at All Saints Parish in Mesa.

The “Red, White and Blue Mass,” Deacon Scott said, is an opportunity for veterans, active duty military personnel and their families to join together in prayer, but it’s also meant to include the wider community as well.

“We’re having the Mass to celebrate our veterans, those who have served and those who are serving,” Deacon Scott said. “It’s also to pray for the deceased veterans, those who have given their lives or have been wounded so we can enjoy these freedoms that we have today.”

The Mass, which will be celebrated on a Sunday, begins with a procession of flags representing each branch of the U.S. military, followed by the U.S. and papal flags.

“Then we’ll pay Taps and light some candles down front for all the deceased from all our wars,” Deacon Scott said. “The Mesa Fire Department’s bag pipers will play after the Mass.”

A reception follows the liturgy.

Deacon Scott said the Veterans Administration and MANA House have been helping to get the word out about the event. MANA House serves homeless veterans by providing transitional housing, hot meals and job services.

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted will preside at the Mass and Fr. Craig Friedley, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Queen Creek, will be the homilist.

Fr. Friedley, who served in the Air Force for 13 years and is currently in the process to become an Army National Guard chaplain, plans to speak about the gift of freedom.

“For us, especially here in America, sometimes we don’t value freedom as much as we should,” Fr. Friedley said. “We forget what the men and women who serve actually do to protect that freedom.”

Many veterans face difficulties, he said, especially when their needs are not met when they get out of the military.

“It’s our job, especially as members of the Catholic Church, to recognize the service that they’ve done and are doing,” Fr. Friedley said. “We are to help them like any other person in our community, whether they are 10,000 miles away or just down the street.”

Red, White and Blue Mass

When: 11 a.m., Nov. 3

Where: All Saints Parish, 1534 N. Recker Road, Mesa

Info: (850) 516-5013

Vatican not worried about possibility U.S. monitored its calls

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Catholic News Service

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Oct 30, 2013

The sun colors the sky over the dome of St. Peter's Basilica during sunset at the Vatican Sept. 9. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) — The sun colors the sky over the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica during sunset at the Vatican Sept. 9. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican has no evidence its calls were monitored by the U.S. National Security Agency and, even if they were, “we have no concerns about it,” the Vatican spokesman said.

Asked about the possibility that the NSA’s electronic eavesdropping program had monitored Vatican calls, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi told reporters Oct. 30: “We have no evidence of this.”

The spokesman made his comments after the Italian newsweekly Panorama announced that its issue going on sale Oct. 31 would include a report that phone calls to and from the Vatican were among the 46 million calls in Italy allegedly monitored between Dec. 10, 2012, and Jan. 8, 2013.

The magazine said it also is possible the eavesdropping continued for months and included calls made on the eve of the conclave that elected Pope Francis in March.

The story was prepared in the midst of growing European coverage and anger over the NSA’s alleged call-monitoring program.

The Catholic Doctor Is In: A case of infidelity

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Oct 30, 2013

DR-JIM-ASHER-745x483-FEATURED-IMAGE — Dr. Jim Asher is a graduate of Marquette University and Des Moines University. He earned a master’s degree in bioethics from Midwestern University. He and his wife of 50 years, Rose Neidhoefer of Milwaukee, have seven children and 14 grandchildren. He is a retired family physician. He is a parishioner at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral, an officer in the Catholic Physician’s Guild, and a member of the Knights of Columbus. Opinions expressed are the writers’ and not necessarily the views of The Catholic Sun or the Diocese of Phoenix.

Sitting across from me was a middle-aged man. He was sad but not defeated. He met my gaze, and told me his story quietly. His wife had been unfaithful and now she wanted to come back. He was willing to consider. I admired his openness to forgiving.

Dr. Jim Asher is a graduate of Marquette University and Des Moines University. He earned a master’s degree in bioethics from Midwestern University. He and his wife of 48 years, Rose Neidhoefer of Milwaukee, have seven children and 13 grandchildren. He is a retired family physician. He is a parishioner at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral, an officer in the Catholic Physician’s Guild, and a member of the Knights of Columbus.
Opinions expressed are the writers’ and not necessarily the views of The Catholic Sun or the Diocese of Phoenix.

He had waited patiently, remaining faithful himself, while working to support their children. I sensed some growing confusion and perhaps anger. He had been striving to accept his already difficult situation, when there suddenly appeared what seemed an overwhelming obstacle to their reconciliation: she was pregnant.

In spite of his heartfelt and lifelong opposition to abortion, he wondered, how else was he going to deal with this situation? It seemed the only realistic solution if they were to resume their former life.

But what about the baby? Totally innocent, really only a bystander, certainly not the cause of any of this — no doubt beautiful and loveable, but the persistent, agonizing evidence of the affair. Was his wife returning only because of this?

Yet could this become a beloved child, and in spite of the origin, his little sweetheart or his big tough-guy, and later a loyal, appreciative solace in his old age, all the more so because he or she understood what he had done?

And what of the natural father? Would he demand visitation rights, and be a nuisance to be dealt with periodically for the next 18 years? Or could he become a gentle presence who eagerly contributed to the upbringing, while loving at a distance, meanwhile as kind and unobtrusive as a man could be? Had he merely taken advantage of her situation after the separation?

Could this man and wife vow never to bring the child up in an argument, nor ever to regret this child even if it became troublesome?

Perhaps. Perhaps not. Much would depend on the husband’s ability to forgive. And adoption could be a more secure move.

But even if there were no child, resuming a normal marital relationship after such a trauma must be seen as an arduous undertaking. It’s hard to imagine anyone doing this without counseling and spiritual direction — and initially living apart. Instead of abortion, the time left in this pregnancy could be used profitably as a time of deep reflection and discernment.

Abortion to preserve a relationship?

Abortion might seem an obvious solution, but in practice does not offer a way to resume a normal life. Those who work with women who have had abortions will tell you that in many cases, abortion frequently ends a relationship, in spite of the opposite expectation. Women can suffer a great deal — sooner or later — over the guilt of killing their baby. Men often suffer too. Realistically, how much good can this fundamentally good man expect from the killing of a completely innocent child?

The woman might argue, well, the choice is mine, but if I don’t have an abortion, I will be left to raise this child all by myself. What else can I do? She would need to look beyond the immediate crisis she feels herself in, in order to create a positive and happy future — with or without her husband.

Theresa Burke, PhD, and her husband, Kevin Burke, MSS, LSW, have developed Rachel’s Vineyard, which is a healing ministry for men and women who have dealt with abortion. They have detailed the mental anguish that their many post-abortion clients and others have dealt with, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, sleep disturbances, and other problems such as suicidal thoughts and even suicide. In the long term it will be a relief, and far less complicated for this couple to be free of an abortion experience.

Family and friends will be curious, so withdrawing to a place of shelter, or with a relative until after delivery might be best. If the child were then given for adoption, a plausible explanation would be easy. More difficult to explain could be if they would choose to keep the child, but a counselor might be of help. Regardless, after the delivery and once back together counseling and spiritual direction could – and should – continue.

The man was kind. He thanked me and commented sadly, “If we were in opposite seats, I would be telling you what you are telling me.” He got up and left. And I prayed. Benedicamus Domino.

In times of trouble, pope says, call on the communion of saints

By

Catholic News Service

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Oct 30, 2013

Pope arrives to lead general audience in St. Peter's Square at Vatican — Pope Francis is pictured through balloons as he arrives to lead his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Oct. 30. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Pope Francis is pictured through balloons as he arrives to lead his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Oct. 30. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) — Pope Francis is pictured through balloons as he arrives to lead his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 30. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Trials and doubts are part of everyone’s faith journey, “even mine,” Pope Francis said, but Christians know they can get through the hard times with help from God, other Christians and those in heaven.

“Who hasn’t experienced insecurities, losses and even doubts in the journey of faith?” the pope asked. “It’s part of life. It should not shock us because we are human beings, marked by fragility and limits.”

“Don’t be frightened,” but ask for help, Pope Francis said Oct. 30 at his weekly general audience, talking about the “communion of saints” as the church prepared to celebrate the Nov. 1-2 feasts of All Saints and All Souls.

In times of difficulty, the pope said, “it is necessary to trust in God through prayer and, at the same time, it’s important to find the courage and humility to open yourself to others in order to ask for help.”

“We are a great big family” through baptism, the pope told the estimated 50,000 pilgrims and visitors gathered for the audience in St. Peter’s Square. The communion of saints, he explained, refers not only to those who have been canonized by the Catholic Church but to all the baptized.

“The communion of saints goes beyond earthly life,” the pope said. “It extends beyond death and lasts forever,” to find its fullest expression when all believers are “reunited in heaven.”

“All the baptized here on earth, the souls in purgatory and the blessed souls in heaven form one big family,” he added in remarks to Polish pilgrims. “This communion between heaven and earth is expressed particularly in prayers of intercession, which are the greatest form of solidarity, and is also the basis of the liturgical celebrations of the feasts of All Saints and All Souls.”

Every Christian, the pope said, has an obligation to be a responsible part of the communion of saints, supporting other Christians in their faith.

A believer’s communion with God and with Jesus must find expression in communion with all those who also believe, he said. Those who truly enter “the glowing furnace of the love” of God, love others because God’s love “burns away our selfishness, our prejudices, our internal and external divisions,” he said. “The love of God also burns away our sins.”

Immediately after the audience, Pope Francis met leaders of Iraq’s Christian, Kurdish Yazidi, Sunni and Shiite Muslim communities. He had asked pilgrims at the audience to pray for Iraq, which “unfortunately is struck daily by tragic episodes of violence,” and needs “to find the path to reconciliation, peace, unity and stability.”

— By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service.

Read the text of the pope’s audience remarks in English

Read the text of the pope’s audience remarks in Spanish

Catholics mark 80th year of Scottsdale mission

By

Ambria Hammel

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Oct 29, 2013

OLPH adobe mission_courtesy — Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, Msgr. Tom Hever and Fr. Greg Sclarb concelebrate a special Mass at the Old Adobe Mission in Scottsdale marking the 80th anniversary of its first Mass. (Photo courtesy of Doug Slater/Our Lady of Perpetual Help)

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, Msgr. Tom Hever and Fr. Greg Sclarb concelebrate a special Mass at the Old Adobe Mission in Scottsdale marking the 80th anniversary of its first Mass. (Photo courtesy of Doug Slater/Our Lady of Perpetual Help)

Amid the art, specialty retail and dining that defines downtown Scottsdale sits a distinctively Catholic presence that connects the area’s past to the present. The Old Adobe Mission, Scottsdale’s first parish, turned 80 this month.

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted celebrated an anniversary Mass Oct. 15 for docents and family members of those who built the mission brick by brick. Msgr. Tom Hever, who led the mission’s restoration efforts in 2000, and Fr. Greg Schlarb, pastor of nearby Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, concelebrated.

The mission sits less than a mile from OLPH and served as Scottsdale’s only Catholic church for the first 23 years until the parish outgrew it. The space was used as a meeting hall and practice hall for the symphony over the years. By the late ‘90s, the mission began to show its age and OLPH parishioners decided to give it a facelift. Some 400 new adobe bricks were made onsite.

“It was too important of a place to be knocked down or gotten rid of,” said Rad Masinelli, who coordinates volunteer docents at the mission.

Scottsdale’s first Catholics built it. They were 20 families recruited from Sonora, Mexico to work nearby cotton fields. Some 16,000 adobe bricks later, they had a simple largely one-room church. It took another 15 years for them to get a full-time pastor and be declared a parish. The Extension Society of Chicago, which donated funds for the original roof, were granted naming rights and chose Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

“The history and labor of love put into it is inspiring,” said Laurel Hirsch, a docent at the mission since 2005.

She loves sharing it with visitors who stop by while checking out other sights in Old Town. The Old Adobe Mission attracts visitors from all across the globe during its seasonal hours. Some of their pictures grace the mission’s blog and Facebook pages online.

Hirsch said three people — including one from France — stopped in during the anniversary celebration. Whether it’s in the guestbook or in conversation, Hirsch said most visitor comments reflect on the mission’s beauty.

Masinelli agreed.

“They just have a feeling that it’s a special place. They’re all taken by it. It’s hard to explain,” he said.

Local Catholics find it special too. One couple had their marriage convalidated there this month with more than a handful of weddings scheduled. Other families have used it for quincañeras and baptisms.

Fortunately, heating and air conditioning was installed two years ago. The mission’s board of directors hopes funds from the donation box will ultimately bring a proposed renovation project to completion. They want to expand the back end for a small kitchen and storage space. They also want to add restrooms.

“It’s perfectly fine the way it is. We just want to maintain it so it doesn’t deteriorate again,” Masinelli said.

The mission is scheduled to open again Oct. 28 and remain open daily through April.

Old Adobe Mission

3821 N. Brown Street (First and Brown streets) in Scottsdale

Open daily 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 28-April

www.facebook.com/oldadobemission

EWTN files second lawsuit against HHS mandate; Alabama is co-plaintiff

By

Catholic News Service

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Oct 29, 2013

20130201nw41-(2) — The headquarters of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is seen in Washington in this file photo. The department Feb. 1 issued revised regulations related to the contraception mandate and religious concerns under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. U.S. bishops had lambasted the mandate as violating religious freedom. (CNS photo/Nancy Phelan Wiechec)

The headquarters of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is seen in Washington in this file photo. The department Feb. 1 issued revised regulations related to the contraception mandate and religious concerns under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. U.S. bishops had lambasted the mandate as violating religious freedom. (CNS photo/Nancy Phelan Wiechec)

MOBILE, Ala. (CNS) — The Eternal Word Television Network, joined by the state of Alabama, has filed another lawsuit challenging the federal mandate requiring most employers to provide coverage of contraceptives, sterilizations and some abortion-inducing drugs free of charge.

The suit was filed Oct. 28 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama in Mobile.

Last March, a U.S. District Court judge dismissed the Irondale-based television network’s lawsuit against the Health and Human Services mandate, which is part of the Affordable Care Act.

Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama in Birmingham, said in her March 25 ruling that EWTN had sufficient standing to file the suit because of the “real prospect” the global network could be harmed by “a concrete regulatory mandate.”

However, she held the suit was not ripe for judicial review and she did not want to issue a final ruling because proposed rules governing the mandate had not yet been finalized. “At that point, if EWTN still has objections, it may then file suit,” she said.

Final rules were issued by HHS June 28. EWTN and many other Catholic and religious employers said they still do not go far enough to accommodate their moral objections to complying with the mandate.

“EWTN has no other option but to continue our legal challenge,” said Michael P. Warsaw, the network’s chairman and CEO.

The final rules do “nothing to address the serious issues of conscience and religious freedom” that EWTN, the U.S. Catholic bishops and many other religious institutions have raised since the mandate was first issued in January 2012, he said in a statement.

“The government has decided that EWTN is apparently not religious enough to be exempt from the rule,” added Warsaw. “It has still placed us in a situation where we are forced to offer contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs as part of our employee health plan or to offer our employees and their families no insurance at all.

“Neither of these options is acceptable. The mission of EWTN is not negotiable,” he said.

Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, who is representing the state as co-plaintiff in the suit, called it “unconscionable” that the federal government requires most religious employers to provide coverage to which they are morally opposed.

“The freedom of religion, and to believe as one sees fit, is our ‘first freedom'” under the U.S. Constitution,” Strange said in a statement. “The people of Alabama have recognized the importance of this freedom and have enshrined it in their constitution as well. Alabama law does not allow anyone to be forced to offer a product that is against his or her religious beliefs or conscience.”

The final rules include an exemption for some religious employers that fit the criterion for a nonprofit organization as specified by certain sections of the federal Internal Revenue Code, namely those referring to “churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of churches, as well as to the exclusively religious activities of any religious order.”

For religious employers who are not exempt under this criterion, HHS has provided an accommodation by which those employers can provide contraceptive coverage through a third-party administrator who must ensure that payments for contraceptive services come from outside the objecting organization’s premiums.

For self-insuring institutions, a third-party administrator would provide or arrange the services, paid for through reductions in federally facilitated-exchange user fees associated with their health insurance provider.

The mandate does not include a conscience clause for employers who object to such coverage on moral grounds.

The final rules issued this June extended the deadline for nonexempt religious employers to implement the mandate, setting it for Jan. 1, 2014. If those employers do not comply, they will face IRS fines.

The EWTN and Alabama lawsuit was filed by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty on behalf of the two entities.

According to the Becket Fund, more than 70 lawsuits challenging the HHS mandate have been filed against the government. Plaintiffs include Catholic colleges, dioceses and other entities, as well as individual employers.

Two earn Teacher of Year award among state’s private educators

By

The Catholic Sun

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Oct 25, 2013

AZCAPE — Juby Luensmann, an algebra teacher at Notre Dame Preparatory displays her teaching award surrounded by MaryBeth Mueller, superintendent and fellow staff (left) while Tina Larsen, a third grade teacher at St. John Bosco shows off her teaching award from her classroom. (courtesy photos)

Juby Luensmann, an algebra teacher at Notre Dame Preparatory displays her teaching award surrounded by MaryBeth Mueller, superintendent and fellow staff (left) while Tina Larsen, a third grade teacher at St. John Bosco shows off her teaching award from her classroom. (courtesy photos) — Juby Luensmann, an algebra teacher at Notre Dame Preparatory displays her teaching award surrounded by MaryBeth Mueller, superintendent and fellow staff (left) while Tina Larsen, a third grade teacher at St. John Bosco shows off her teaching award from her classroom. (Courtesy photos)

Teachers from a local Catholic elementary and high school earned Teacher of the Year titles in respective categories through the Arizona Council for American Private Education during the second annual awards ceremony Oct. 22 at the Goldwater Institute. The organization also honored seven other teachers at five Catholic schools as finalists alongside two programs.

Tina Larsen, a third grade teacher at St. John Bosco in Ahwtaukee was named Teacher of the Year in the preschool to third grade category. She has been teaching for 11 years, seven of them at St. John Bosco, and is a certified catechist. All finalists showed a passion for education, compassion, resiliency, innovation, leadership and a desire to give back to the community.

Juby Luensmann, an agile algebra teacher at Notre Dame Preparatory in Scottsdale, was named high school Teacher of Year. Luensmann strives to find the mathematician in everyone and has done so for 16 years, eight of them at Notre Dame.

Other finalists representing Catholic schools included:

P-3 Teacher of the Year: Mary Agnes at Christ the King in Mesa
4-8 Teacher of the Year: Pat Curry at Christ the King in Mesa, Kathleen Murphy at St. Thomas Aquinas in Avondale
9-12 Teacher of the Year: Marilyn Weleck at San Miguel High School in Tucson
Staff Member of the Year: Dorthy Abril at St. John Bosco in Ahwatukee, Bonnie Brillas at Blessed Pope John XXIII in Scottsdale, Jessie Cuellar at St. Theresa in Arcadia, David Gonsalves at Notre Dame Prepratory
Program of the Year: iPad program at Blessed Pope John XXIII in Scottsdale, Student Government Association at Notre Dame Preparatory in Scottsdale

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