View - Catholic Diocese of Brownsville

Transcription

Volume 3, Issue 11
Serving over 900,000 Catholics In The Diocese of Brownsville
A Mother’s Choice:
Make-A-Wish
Three new
priests to be
ordained
The Valley Catholic
Teen to meet Pope
Benedict XVI
3
Pentecost
Feast is on May 27
4
Courtesy photo
Paula Estrada with her baby boy, Roel.
“I can’t imagine life without him,”
Estrada said.
Those Who Serve
Deacon Felipe Treviño
of Brownsville
Life
Hardships are no
excuse for abortion
6
By ROSE YBARRA
The Valley Catholic
MISSION — Paula Estrada and
her husband had a one-year-old
son and five-month-old daughter
when she found out she was pregnant with their third child.
“I cried and cried,” said Estrada, 21 of Palmview, who also has
El Papa en México
A look at the Pope’s
historic visit
8-9
En Español
Articulos sobre un coro
de Puerto Isabel y de una
mamá que eligió dar a luz a
su bebé en lugar de abortar.
custody of her 13-year-old brother. “I didn’t want to have another
baby. How were we going to feed
four kids and buy diapers for three
babies?”
Estrada began asking around
about the abortion pill but admits,
“it didn’t feel right.”
Estrada went to the McAllen
Pregnancy Center to take a pregnancy test. The center primarily
serves women in crisis pregnancy, providing free, confidential
» Please see Life, p.16
St. Joseph Parish marks golden anniversary
Parishioners
celebrate history,
patron saint
By BRENDA NETTLES RIOJAS
The Valley Catholic
11-13
“VERBUM MITTITUR
SPIRANS AMOREM”
(“The WORD is sent
breathing love.”)
May 2012
BROWNSVILLE – Hundreds
gathered at St. Joseph Church
in Brownsville to highlight not
only the 50th anniversary of the
completion and dedication of
the current building, but also the
early history and the patron saint
of the parish community.
Parishioners dedicated two
weeks March 11-25 to celebrate
with Masses, processions and
Adoration.
Bishop Daniel E. Flores said
the anniversary allows parishioners to focus on what the Church
has done in the community. “It
is important for us to take these
The Valley Catholic
Bishop Daniel E. Flores reminded the faithful at St. Joseph Parish during the Mass
on March 25, that the anniversary of the current church serves as an opportunity to
celebrate God’s blessings and his work in the community.
times to remember how it is
that God chooses to work in the
world,” he said during his homily
at the Mass on March 25.
» Please see St. Joseph, p.15
Three priests will be ordained
for service in the Diocese of
Brownsville at 9 a.m. on Saturday,
May 26 at the Basilica of Our Lady
of San Juan del Valle-National
Shrine. Bishop Daniel E. Flores
will confer the Sacrament of Holy
Orders on Deacon Luis Roberto
Tinajero, Deacon Andres Gutierrez
and Deacon Jesus Paredes.
The three deacons answered
questions from The Valley Catholic
about the call to priesthood and
their hopes for their priestly
ministry.
Deacon Luis Roberto Tinajero
Date of Birth: July 17, 1980
(Age 31)
Where are you from? I am
from a town
in Mexico
c a l l e d
Ta n hu at o,
Michoacán
That is the
place where
I also lived
in until I
TINAJERO
entered
a
seminary at
the age of 15.
Parents: Roberto Tinajero
Pimentel
(†)
and
Elva Pérez
Saldaña
Siblings:
T
w
o
brothers,
Esaúl José,
Pablo David
GUTIERREZ
and one sister,
Fátima Guadalupe
Seminary:
Mundelein
Seminary, Mundelein, Ill.
When did you get the call to
the priesthood? What was it like?
I think it was about Christmas
time (I do not remember the
year) when
a
friend
of
mine,
who was a
seminarian
at the time
and
now
is a priest,
invited me to
PAREDES
consider the
possibility of entering a seminary.
I had met a couple of seminarians
before due to my involvement in
the ministries of my home parish
but had never thought before of the
possibility of joining them in the
seminary, neither did they ask me
that question before.
That invitation was stoked in
» Please see Ordination, p.13
2
DIOCESE
Un blog
nuevo:
“En Pocas
Palabras”
(El Obispo Daniel E. Flores empezó
su blog “En pocas palabras” este
pasado Domingo de Ramos. Para
leer el blog visite http://bishopflores.
blogspot.com. Lo que sigue fue publicado por el Obispo en su blog el 14
de abril: LIBROS)
M
e gusta leer. Y me gusta
hablar sobre libros. Sin
embargo, no soy un
lector muy disciplinado. Algunas
personas cambian el canal de televisión impacientemente cuando
sale un comercial, yo escojo un
nuevo libro dependiendo mi estado de ánimo. Esto solía sacar de
sus casillas a mi director espiritual.
Siempre me decía que leería más
eficientemente si me enfocaba en
uno a la vez. (No era intencionalmente desobediente, pero sí algo
débil con respecto a este punto).
También pienso que uno de
los regalos más importantes que
le podemos dar a nuestros niños
en la comunidad es el amor a los
libros y la lectura. Es una forma de
viajar a través de tiempo y espacio
sin tener que abordar un avión.
Créanme, me subo a suficientes
aviones, así que cada que puedo ir
a algún lugar sin tener que viajar
hasta allá, soy como un niño con
juguete nuevo.
Por supuesto, hay libros buenos, libros malos, libros decepcionantes y libros sorprendentemente
buenos. Algunos libros son buenos
para el alma, algunos no. Algunos
libros adornan el alma con un sentido más rico de la maravilla de las
cosas. Algunos te arrastras hacia el
interior de un sentido no muy feliz
del dolor de las cosas. Dudo en
recomendar libros a menos de que
conozca bien a la persona. ¿Por
qué? Porque un libro es un mundo
al cual entras, pero también es un
mundo que entra en ti. Una vez en
tu memoria, es imposible borrar
incluso sus efectos residuales. Los
libros del escritor español Carlos
Ruiz Zafón (La sombra del viento,
El juego del ángel, El prisionero del
cielo) se encuentran alrededor de
los libros con ese tipo de poder. No
estoy seguro si estoy totalmente
de acuerdo con lo que significa
el husmear sobre éste tema, pero
aún así, no estoy completamente
seguro si capto de que se trata el
libro. Lo que si se es que disfruto
leyéndolos. Pero mi punto es que
debemos ser cuidadosos cuando
The Valley Catholic - May 2012
New blog: “En Pocas Palabras”
(Bishop Daniel E. Flores started a blog “En
Pocas Palabras” this past Palm Sunday.
To read his posts visit http://bishopflores.
blogspot.com. The following is from an entry
posted April 14.)
I
like to read. And I like to talk about books.
I am not, though, a very disciplined
reader. Some people flip television channels impatiently when a commercial comes
on, I pick up a new book, depending on my
frame of mind. This used to drive my spiritual
director in the seminary crazy. He always told
me I would read more efficiently if I focused
on one at a time. (I was not willfully disobedient to him, just woefully lacking in will with
regard to this point.)
I also think one of the most important
gifts we can give to our children in the community is a love of books, and of reading. It
is a way of traveling through time and place
without ever having to get on an airplane.
Believe me, I get on enough airplanes as it is.
Anytime I can go somewhere without having
to go somewhere, I am like a kid at Christmas. There are of course good books, and bad
books; disappointing books and surprisingly
good books. Some books are good for the
soul, some are not. Some books ornament
the soul with a richer sense of the wonder of
things. Some drag you down into a not very
happy sense of the pain in things.
I hesitate to recommend books unless
I know a person fairly well. Why? Because a
book is a world you enter into, but it is also a
world that enters into you. Once it is in your
memory, it is near impossible to erase at least
its residual effects. The books by the Spanish
author Carlos Ruiz Zafón (La sombra del viento, El juego del angel, El prisionero del cielo)
sort of poke around that particular power in
books. I am not sure if I fully agree with what
his poking around this topic implies, but then,
I am not sure I fully grasp what his books
presentamos algo como un libro
en la memoria de otro, esforcémonos para que sea algo que sume
a la bondad de la persona, y no
que saque lo peor de las personas.
Tienes que conocer a alguien hasta
cierto punto para saber si va a
valer la pena que lean un libro en
particular. Todos deben de leer las
Confesiones de San Agustín por lo
menos una vez en su vida.
Las personas me preguntan
de vez en cuando lo que he leído
recientemente, y por lo regular enlisto algunos que haya terminado
de leer recientemente o que acabo
de empezar, o que persisten en mi
mente aunque los haya terminado
de leer hace tiempo. Debido a
mi falta de disciplina, después de
un tiempo, me confundo sobre
cuándo leí un libro en particular
y lo que estaba pensando cuando
lo leí. Los distintos libros que leí
en dado tiempo usualmente se
complementan. Esto no es nec-
700 N. Virgen de San Juan Blvd., San Juan, TX 78589-3042
Telephone: 956/781-5323 • Fax: 956/784-5082
Bishop Daniel E. Flores
Publisher
Brenda Nettles Riojas
Editor
Rose Ybarra
Assistant Editor
ZBG Studio/Graphic Design
Terry De Leon
Circulation
MOST REVEREND
DANIEL E. FLORES
BISHOP OF BROWNSVILLE
The Valley Catholic e-mail:
[email protected]
The Valley Catholic, a publication
of the Diocese of Brownsville,
is published monthly.
Subscription rate:
$15 per year • $17 outside of Texas
$25 out of U.S.
imply. I do know I enjoyed reading them. But
my point is that we should be careful when
we introduce something like a book into the
memory of another; strive to make it something that builds up the goodness of a person,
and not pull out the worst in people. You sort
of have to know someone at least somewhat
to know whether it will be worth their while
to read a particular book. Everybody should
read the Confessions of Saint Augustine at least
once in their life.
People do ask me from time to time
what I have read recently, and I usually list a
few I have either just finished or just started,
or that are still lingering in my mind even
though I finished them a while back. Because
of my lack of discipline, after a while, I do
get confused about when I read a particular
book and what I was thinking when I read it.
The different books I read at any given time
usually complement each other. That is not
necessarily by design, it just sort of happens.
This blog, I thought, might provide me with a
little discipline, in that every once in a while
I can describe what I am reading, and invite
anyone to comment if they want to.
I just finished the fifth book in the Las
aventuras del Capitán Alatriste series by
Arturo Perez-Reverte. It is entitled El caballero
del jubón amarillo. The whole series is widely
translated into many languages, and the
English is easily available. If you like adventure stories, set in historically detailed 17th
esariamente a propósito, solamente
pasa. Esta bitácora, pensé, podría
darme un poco de disciplina, ya
que cada cierto tiempo puedo
describir lo que estoy leyendo, e
invitar a cualquiera a comentar si
lo desean.
Acabo de terminar el quinto
libro en Las aventuras del Capitán
Century Spain, during the reign of Felipe IV,
this one is for you. But, be warned, the author
methodically moves you to appreciate the
paradox of a man, at once heroic and loyal,
yet profoundly sad to not to be able to hope
anymore in the final triumph of what is noble
and heroic. The tired hero knows what he is
supposed to do, he is just not sure anymore
why he should be doing it. A personal sense
of honor moves him, but even that powerful motive seems to be losing its efficacy. Set
in olden days, the themes of the books are
contemporary, if you take as a contemporary
cultural preoccupation (as I do) the struggle
to live honorably in a world where people
think nothing can be trusted anymore. The
stories have their brutal moments. Me parece
que el autor sigue en la línea de sus otras obras,
investigando las expresiones del heroísmo, y sus
raíces, mientras muestra la figura de un héroe
cansado. Este cansancio heroico es tema contemporáneo en el sentido que nuestra cultura
todavía siente el impulso para grandes sacrificios para el bien, pero falta de confianza en
las instituciones que tradicionalmente inspiran
los sacrificios. Obviously, I enjoy this series,
otherwise why am I about to start the sixth
book in it?
I recently started a book by John Grisham
entitled Calico Joe. John Grisham mostly
writes stories about lawyers and courtroom
drama, but this one is a baseball story. Like
most really good baseball stories, it is mostly
about life. So far-- up to page 70-- it is very
engaging. Once I finish I will let you know
my impressions. I have read a lot of baseball
books over the years.
I am almost done with Charles Taylor’s Modern Social Imaginaries. It is a finely
instructive book. When I am done, I might
say more about why this book, and others by
Charles Taylor are important to know about.
More on these sorts of topics as time allows. In the meantime, read when you can!
Alatriste series por Arturo PérezReverte. Se titula El caballero del
jubón amarillo. La serie completa
está ampliamente traducida
a muchos idiomas, y el inglés
esta fácilmente disponible. Si te
gustan las historias de aventura,
situadas detalladamente en la
España del siglo XVII, durante el
Bishop Flores’ Schedule
May 1
7 p.m.
OLA, Harlingen
Anniversary Mass for Fr. George Gonzalez
May 2
All Day Archdiocese of Galveson-Houston
Ordination of Auxiliary Bishop George A. Sheltz
May 3
7 p.m.
Weslaco
Confirmations at San Martin de Porres
May 5
11 a.m.
San Pedro
Confirmations at San Pedro
May 5
6 p.m.
San Carlos
Confirmations at St. Joseph the Worker
May 6
11 a.m.
McAllen
Confirmations at Sacred Heart
May 6
5 p.m.
Brownsville
Confirmations at St. Eugene de Mazenod
May 7
2 p.m.
Brownsville
Administrative Council Meeting
May 7
6 p.m.
Harlingen
KMBH Board Meeting
May 8
All Day
Corpus Christi
Kenedy Memorial Foundation Board of Dir. Mtg
May 9
6:30 p.m.
Elsa
May 10
7 p.m.
Pharr
Confirmations at St. Ann Mother of Mary
May 12
10 a.m.
Donna
Confirmations at St. Joseph
May 12
5 p.m.
Alton
Confirmations at San Martin de Porres
May 13
5 p.m.
Santa Rosa
Confirmations at St. Mary
May 14
2 p.m.
Brownsville
May 14
7 p.m.
Harlingen
Confirmations at St. Anthony
May 15
7 p.m.
Brownsville
Confirmations at San Felipe de Jesus
reinado de Felipe IV, ésta historia
es para ti. Pero, sobre aviso, el
autor te mueve metódicamente
para apreciar la paradoja de un
hombre, de un modo heroico y
leal, pero profundamente triste
al no poder tener esperanza en el
» Por favor lea Libros, pág.15
May
May 16
9:30 a.m.
San Juan
Presbyteral Council Meeting
May 16
6:30 p.m.
San Juan
Finance Council Meeting
May 17
10:30 a.m.
San Juan
World Communications Day
May 17
7 p.m.
Edinburg
Confirmations at Holy Family
May 19
10 a.m.
Brownsville
Confirmations at Holy Family
May 19
5 p.m.
Brownsville
Confirmations at St. Joseph
May 20
4 p.m.
Weslaco
Confirmations at St. Pius X
May 21
2 p.m.
Brownsville
May 22
6 p.m.
Roma
Confirmations at Our Lady of Refuge
May 23
7 p.m.
San Benito
Confirmations at Our Lady Queen of the Universe
May 24
7:30 p.m.
Brownsville
Mass: Alianza Solemne with Comunidad Ama
May 26
9 a.m.
San Juan
Priesthood Ordinations
May 26
5 p.m.
Brownsville
Brownsville Youth Conference
May 27
12:30 p.m. Cathedral, Brownsville
Mass Pentecost Sunday
May 27
5:30 p.m.
Edinburg
May 29
7 p.m.
La Joya
Confirmations at Our Lady Queen of Angels
May 30
7 p.m.
Alamo
Confirmations at Resurrection
May 31
7 p.m.
McAllen
Confirmations at St. Joseph the Worker
DIOCESE
May 2012 - The Valley Catholic
A Wish Come True
Cathedral altar
server to have
audience with pope
By ROSE YBARRA
The Valley Catholic
BROWNSVILLE — When
children and teens are granted a
special wish through the Make-AWish Foundation, many request
to meet professional athletes or
movie stars.
Armando Sanchez, 17, asked
to meet Pope Benedict XVI at the
Vatican.
“When they told me that I had
this opportunity to go wherever
I wanted and meet whomever I
wanted, I did think about celebrities
but I said no,” said Armando
Sanchez, a junior at Hanna High
School in Brownsville. “I want to
meet the Pope and be where the
Church was founded by Peter. I
want to see the great important
masterpieces and architecture.”
Armando and his mother,
Maria de la Luz Sanchez are
scheduled to meet the Holy Father
at his general audience on May 2 at
St. Peter’s Basilica.
“I never imagined that he
would request a trip like this,” Mrs.
Sanchez said. “I thought he would
want to go to Florida, visit Disney
World. When he said he wanted to
visit the Vatican, my first reaction
was, ‘seriously?’”
The Make-A-Wish Foundation
grants wishes to children and
teens with life-threatening medical
conditions. The organization has
granted more than 220,200 wishes
since it was founded in 1980,
according to its website.
Mrs. Sanchez said the
Funding
Communication
watching movies. Dakota Fanning
and Robert Downey Jr. are his
favorite actors.
Armando has been a patient
at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
in Houston for 16 years. He has
multiple tumors in his heart, brain
and optic tracts among other
ailments but his mother says he has
never wanted special treatment or
accomodations.
“As parents, I think many of
us wish we could put our children
in a bubble so nothing can harm
them but I believe overprotecting
them does more harm than good,”
Mrs. Sanchez said. “Armando is an
example for the whole world. He
doesn’t need or want anyone’s help.
He takes care of himself. He is very
strong.”
After high school, Armando
plans to pursue a career in
pathology. He is also discerning
the priesthood.
“I like shows like CSI, Bones,
House and Criminal Minds but I
also like movies about the saints,”
he said.
Armando said he has always
felt a special closeness with God.
When he was about four-yearsold, he used to inhale and exhale
deeply every time his mother
drove by a Catholic Church.
The Valley Catholic
“One day, I finally asked him
Armando Sanchez and his mother Maria de la Luz are scheduled to meet Pope Benedict
why
he did that,” Mrs. Sanchez
XVI on May 2 at the Holy Father’s general audience via the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
said. “He answered, ‘I am giving
Brownsville Fire Department was junior ROTC at school and serves my energy to God so he can give it
instrumental in making the trip as an altar server at his parish, to those who are tired.”
possible. The fire department held the Immaculate Conception
Armando said he went
a 5K Run and sold BBQ chicken Cathedral.
through a brief period in fifth
plates, donating the proceeds to
In addition to spending time grade when he was angry about his
the Make-A-Wish Foundation in with his mother and his friends, condition but other than that, he
Armando’s honor. Armando is an Armando also enjoys spending has accepted it.
explorer with the Brownsville Fire time with his older sister, Vianney,
“Some people have stressful
Department. He is also a cadet brother-in-law and a baby nephew. jobs or pressures at home, this is
major with the Civil Air Patrol, in He also enjoys reading and my cross to carry,” he said.
New priest ordained for Pharr Oratory
The Valley Catholic
Bishop Daniel E. Flores ordained Nilton Fernandez Cueto to
the priesthood for the Congregation of the Pharr Oratory on April
16 at Our Lady of Sorrows Church
in McAllen.
Cueto is a graduate of Holy
Apostles College and Seminary in
Cromwell, Conn.
A native of Callao, Peru, a
large port city near Lima, Father
Cueto said it was Providence and
his best friend that led him to the
Pharr Oratory.
His best friend was interested in joining the Oratory and
planned a visit. Father Cueto said
he tagged along for moral support
and for the opportunity to see another part of the world.
“I just came to support my
friend,” Father Cueto said. “It was
not my intention to enter into the
Oratory.”
His friend decided not to join
but Father Cueto, “felt right at
home.”
“I told him, ‘you know what?
You are my best friend but I think
God is calling me to stay here. This
is the place for me to begin a new
life, to be a priest. It was not my
plan, it was not your plan but I
think God used you to bring me
here,’” Father Cueto said.
Becoming a priest was a
180-degree turn for Father Cueto.
In Peru, he worked in law enforcement and even provided security
detail for the President of Peru
and the first family for more than
five years.
When he applied for a visa
to attend seminary in the United
States, Father Cueto said he raised
a few eyebrows.
“They (immigration officials)
were suspicious,” he said. “They
said, ‘you were a policeman. Why
do you want to be a priest now?”
It was a life change that Father
Cueto also discussed with his spiritual director.
“My spiritual director told me,
‘you protected the President but
now God is calling you to protect
his Church. You are exchanging a
policeman’s uniform for clerics.’”
In Peru, Father Cueto was also
a member of a lay religious com-
munity that was committed to
service and a strong prayer life.
It was an experience that fostered
his vocation to the priesthood.
Oratorian Father Leo-Francis
Daniels said he and the other
priests at the Pharr Oratory liked
Father Cueto right away when
they met him eight years ago.
“It was obvious that he had a
strong spiritual formation,” Father
Daniels said. “He had worked in a
home for the elderly and loved his
work there. He has a love for doing God’s will.”
The son of Paulo Cueto and
Rosa Fernandez Cueto, who were
in attendance at the ordination,
Father Cueto is the third of five
children.
Father Cueto said his ordination and his whole life can only be
described as a miracle.
“I was born with a high fever
and a serious stomach ailment,” he
said. “The doctors said there was
no cure. They released me from
the hospital and advised my parents to take me home to die.”
Paulo Cueto made funeral arrangements and even selected a
CCC national
collection coming
up May 20
WASHINGTON (USCCB) —
The local date of the collection
for the Catholic Communication
Campaign (CCC) in the Diocese
of Brownsville is Sunday, May 20,
which falls on World Communications Day.
This year, the national campaign focuses on new ways to bring
the gospel to wherever people are.
Whether it is through Internet
content to strengthen marriage,
podcasts for daily readings, televising the Christmas Mass, or using
Facebook for news, discussions and
sharing the faith, the Catholic Communication Campaign Collection
helps the Good News get around.
“In today’s world, it is essential
for the Catholic voice to be where
the people are: whether that is sharing on social networking sites, listening to MP3 players, or reading a
newspaper,” said Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati, chairman
of the U.S. bishops Subcommittee
on the Catholic Communications
Campaign. “For the faithful or those
searching for faith, CCC provides
rich content, bringing the gospel
message one page, click, or download at a time.”
The United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) established the Catholic Communication Campaign collection in 1979
to respond to the national and local communications needs of the
Church. The collection’s proceeds
are split equally between each participating diocese and the national
office.
The Diocese of Brownsville’s
share of the CCC collection is used
to support local communications
efforts such as televised Masses on
KMBH-TV 38.1 and the Valley
Catholic Network 38.8, The Valley
Catholic newspaper, and the diocesan website (www.cdob.org).
The Valley Catholic, which is
mailed to 4,000 homes and distributed at all 69 parishes and 45 mission
churches
in the Rio
In today’s
Grande
world,
it is
Va l l e y,
essential for
was established in
the Catholic
June 2009
voice to be
with funds
where the
from the
B i s h o p’s people are: whether
Annual
that is sharing on
App eal.
social networking
Prior to
sites, listening
2009, the
to MP3 players,
Diocese of
Brownsor reading a
ville was
newspaper.”
the only
Archbishop
Dennis
one
in
Schnurr
T e x a s
without a
diocesan newspaper.
On the national level, CCC
funds support the development and
production of a wide range of media initiatives that are carried out by
USCCB staff and grantee organizations.
For more information about
the Catholic Communication Campaign, visit http://www.usccb.org/
ccc/. For a description of projects
funded nationally by the collection
go to: http://www.usccb.org/ccc/
projects.shtml.
“
CUETO
tiny casket for his baby boy.
By the grace of God, Father
Cueto made a full recovery.
“The doctors said there was no
medical explanation for my recovery,” Father Cueto said. “Knowing
the story of my first days of life,
I knew that God had something
special in store for me. I look forward to serving the Lord in a special way, as one of his priests.”
Priest Ordinations on Saturday, May 26 will be live streamed at 9 a.m.
on the Diocese of Brownsville website www.cdob.org
3
4
DIOCESE
Circling the globe to help
Sister Jennissen
reflects on 60 years
serving the Lord
in eight countries
By ROSE YBARRA
The Valley Catholic
CNS photo
A painting at St. Peter and Paul Church in
Mauren, Liechtenstein, depicts Christ’s
ascension. The solemnity of the Ascension
of the Lord celebrates the completion of
Christ’s mission on earth and his entry into
heaven.
»May 20
Feast of the
Ascension
Catholic News Agency
The Feast of the Ascension is
the fortieth day after Easter Sunday,
which commemorates the Ascension of Christ into heaven, according to Mark 16:19, Luke 24:51, and
Acts 1:2.
In the Eastern Church this feast
was known as analepsis, the taking
up, and also as the episozomene,
the salvation, denoting that by ascending into His glory, Christ completed the work of our redemption. The terms used in the West,
ascensio and, occasionally, ascensa,
signify that Christ was raised up by
His own powers. Tradition designates Mount Olivet near Bethany
as the place where Christ left the
earth. The feast traditionally falls
on Thursday but in the Diocese
of Brownsville and in many other
dioceses, it was transferred to the
following Sunday.
The Feast of the Ascension is
one of the Ecumenical feasts ranking with the feasts of the Passion,
of Easter and of Pentecost among
the most solemn in the calendar.
The feast has a vigil and, since the
fifteenth century, an octave which
is set apart for a novena of preparation for Pentecost, in accordance
with the directions of Leo XIII.
The Ascension of Jesus back to
the Father is utterly crucial in salvation history, although perhaps the
least understood.
We can typically grasp the importance of Christ’s death for our
sins and know that it is of the upmost significance that he is risen
from the dead. However, the Ascension can tend to elude our grasp.
After Jesus commands the
Apostles to preach the Gospel and
baptize, Mark goes on to tell us, “So
then the Lord Jesus, after he had
spoken to them, was taken up into
heaven, and sat down as the right
hand of God” (Mk. 16:19).
The notion of Jesus going to
the right hand of the Father shows
us that Jesus is the fulfillment of
this covenant. The place of highest
honor for all of the Davidic kings
is mentioned by King David himself in Psalm 110, a royal enthronement Psalm. Now that the time has
come for David’s son, Solomon,
to take over the kingship, David
says, “The Lord says to my lord: ‘Sit
at my right hand, till I make your
enemies your footstool’” (v. 1). In
» Please see Ascension, p. 15
McALLEN — If there is one
lesson that Sister Anita Jennissen
has learned in 60 years of religious
life, serving in eight countries, it is
that people are more alike than they
are different.
“Having lived in the high Andes
to the Indian Ocean, wherever I
went, I felt at home,” said Sister
Jennissen of the Franciscan Sisters
of Little Falls, Minn. “We are all
basically the same – probably
about 15 percent of our being is
different. I think we need to work
on realizing our oneness rather
than our differences.”
Sister Jennissen was part of the
first group of Franciscan Sisters to
serve in and establish a clinic in
Yunguyo, Peru, on the border with
Bolivia, where she lived for eight
years from 1962-1970.
She also lived in Cartagena,
Colombia where she served at the
Archdiocesan Seafarers Center
for six years. She and the other
pastoral staff provided a welcoming
spiritual environment for seafarers
and their families from around the
world who were visiting the port of
Cartagena.
Sister Jennissen was also sent
to Africa on two occasions to care
for the sick and spread the Gospel
of Jesus, serving in Senegal and
Tanzania. She has also served in the
United States, mostly in Hispanic
ministry and/or health care, for
more than 20 years.
“It has been a wonderful
adventure with God,” said Sister
Jennissen, who is celebrating her
60th jubilee year in 2012. She
3
1
4
Courtesy photos
1. Sister Anita Jennissen today.
2. Sister Jennissen, pictured to the right
of the bishop, was in the first group of
Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls, Minn.
that established a mission in Yunguyo,
Peru, a poor mountainous area, in 1962.
3. Sister Jennissen served in the African
nation of Senegal from 1982-84.
4. In this 1957 photo, Sister Jennissen, a
registered nurse, cares for a newborn at
Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in Alexandria,
Minn.
2
entered the convent on Jan. 13,
1952 and took her vows on Aug.
11, 1952. She renewed her vows
and was honored with a special
celebration at Sacred Heart Church
in McAllen on March 17 where she
is a parishioner.
Several of her family members
traveled to McAllen from her native
Minnesota for the celebration.
“Sixty years – that’s a long
time,” said Joann Webber, Sister
Jennissen’s sister. “She’s done a lot
of amazing things and had lots
of amazing experiences. Some of
them were not so good, but she has
stuck with it.”
Webber recalled traveling to
Arusha, Tanzania to visit her sister,
who was serving patients with
HIV/AIDS.
“I remember her talking to an
older woman, a grandmother, who
was sitting outside of the hospital
with a couple of young children,”
Webber said. “The woman’s
» Please see Sister Jennissen, p.16
» Pentecost is May 27
Living the gifts of the Holy Spirit
An artist’s depiction of a
scene from the Pentecost
appears in the Cathedral
Basilica of St. Louis. The
feast marks the occasion
of the descent of the Holy
Spirit upon the apostles 50
days after Christ’s resurrection. Pentecost is Greek
for the 50th day. It is also
referred to as the birthday
of the church because, from
that point on, the apostles
carried forth the message of
Christ to the world.
By JASON GODIN
The Church concludes the
Easter season with the celebration
of Pentecost. The celebration,
which falls on Sunday, May 27
this year, serves as a reminder of
the original and ongoing gift of
Pentecost: the Holy Spirit living,
acting in, and with his Church. It
also presents a special opportunity
for us to recommit ourselves
to living a life that reflects the
sacramental gifts of Pentecost: the
seven gifts of the Holy Spirit that
we receive through Confirmation.
The first reading on Pentecost
Sunday recounts the momentous
event. According to St. Luke in
the Acts of the Apostles, 50 days
after the Resurrection a special
outpouring of the Holy Spirit came
upon the community of believers.
A strong, driving wind filled the
Catholic News Service
meeting place, where tongues of
fire appeared, parted, and rested
above each individual. The Holy
Spirit allowed them to speak and
understand one another in their
respective languages. Astounded
and bewildered, the assembled
believers questioned one another
about what had just happened
(Acts 2:1-12).
What did it mean, both then
and now? How do we express and
live out the reality of Pentecost in
our families?
The Catechism of the Catholic
Church tells us that Pentecost
signaled a specific moment in
history when Christ once again
fulfilled his promise to fill his
followers with the gift of the Holy
Spirit (1287). This original gift of
Pentecost ignited a timid apostolic
community to go forth and boldly
proclaim and defend the faith in
word and deed. Pentecost also
began “the age of the Church,”
wherein Christ communicates
“the fruits of Christ’s Paschal
mystery” through the celebration
of the sacraments (1076).
Consequently, though we
may not see “tongues of fire,” the
» Please see Pentecost, p.14
DIOCESE
»Sunday
Readings
The Word of God in the Life
and Mission of the Church
MAY 6
(Fifth Sunday of Easter)
Reading I ACTS 9:26-31
Responsorial Psalm
PS 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32
Reading II 1 JN 3:18-24
Gospel JN 15:1-8
MAY 13
(Sixth Sunday of Easter)
Reading I
ACTS 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48
Responsorial Psalm
PS 98:1, 2-3, 3-4
Reading II 1 JN 4:7-10
Gospel JN 15:9-17
MAY 20
(The Ascension of the Lord
Seventh Sunday of Easter)
Reading I
ACTS 1:15-17, 20A, 20C-26
Responsorial Psalm
PS 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20
Reading II
1 JN 4:11-16
Gospel
JN 17:11B-19
MAY 27
(Pentecost Sunday
Mass during the Day)
Reading I
ACTS 2:1-11
Responsorial Psalm
PS 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
Reading II
1 COR 12:3B-7, 12-13
Gospel
JN 20:19-23
The word of the lord abides for ever.
This word is the Gospel which was
preached to you” (1 Pet 1:25; cf. Is
40:8).
With this assertion from the First
Letter of Saint Peter, which takes up
the words of the Prophet Isaiah, we
find ourselves before the mystery of
God, who has made himself known
through the gift of his word.
This word, which abides for ever,
entered into time. God spoke his
eternal Word humanly; his Word
“became flesh” (Jn 1:14).
This is the good news. This is the
proclamation which has come down
the centuries to us today.
Disciples in Mission: Six Weeks
with the Bible
Chastity Rally
set for May 12
The Valley Catholic
The Couples for Christ Foundation for Family and Life (CFCFFL) of
the Rio Grande Valley is hosting its first
Chastity Rally from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
on May 12 at the Basilica of Our Lady of
San Juan del Valle-National Shrine.
The purpose of the rally is to create
awareness on the virtues of chastity.
“We see it in our own parishes, girls
as young as 14 getting pregnant,” said
Gabby Hernandez, of the Rio Grande
Valley Chapter of the CFCFFL. “Even
among Catholics, the divorce rate is going up. The bottom line is chastity is the
difference between creating a culture of
life vs. a culture of death.”
Chastity before marriage offers
many benefits, including an increase
in marital stability and satisfaction
and freedom from unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases
(STDs).
Among those teens who have already lost their virginity, two-thirds of
them wished they had waited longer
to have sex (77 percent of girls and 60
percent of guys) according to a national
survey by the Family Research Council.
The rally will feature speakers, including Bishop Daniel E. Flores, praise
and worship and will conclude with
Mass in the basilica.
For more information on the Couples for Christ Foundation for Family and Life, visit http://www.cfcffl.org/
home.htm
I
A Mother’s Gift
was in a rush to get the Holy
Oils of the sick from the
church to go anoint someone at the hospital when a
major flashback came to me as I
looked through the glass into the
main sanctuary of the church. I
paused for a bit and observed a
mother with her 6 or 7-year-old
son explaining something about
the main altar. It was the same
experience I had as a child at that
same age.
I remember my mother taking the time to show me around
the church and explaining the
rich symbolism all around me. It
seemed incredible to a 6-year-old.
The one thing I remember is her
explaining to me how the sanctuary was the most sacred space in
the church, and how on the altar
lay the body of Jesus as he dies for
us. I pictured the long body of
Jesus on the altar and how he sacrificed himself for us on that altar.
How sacred and how powerful a
beginning lesson in understanding
the Eucharist!
My mother also prepared me
to become an altar server - the
youngest and smallest ever I think
at Sacred Heart Church in McAllen. I remember her taking me
to the pastor and convincing him
to let me serve; she would even
A
5
Msgr. Heberto
M. Diaz, Jr.
Vicar General
for the Diocese
of Brownsville
hem up a cassock for me. She was
already preparing me for what was
to come.
I believe I truly owe my vocation to the priesthood to my mother. You see, the greatest gift that
my mother ever gave me was my
faith in God. My first memories as
a child are of my mother teaching
me how to pray before bed time.
(I must admit that I still begin my
night prayers as my mother taught
me.) I remember my mother
showing me how to make the Sign
of the Cross. That simple action
was the cornerstone of her efforts
in teaching me how to pray.
It is so important to begin catechism for our children at a young
age and it starts at home. Parents
and grandparents are the first catechists to our children and one is
never too young to begin lessons.
I worry that not enough of our
parents are taking the time to teach
their children about God. Have
they forgotten the sacred promise
they made when they baptized
their child? It is a responsibility all
parents accept on the day of their
child’s baptism. Recall these words
from the Rite of Baptism:
“You have asked to have your
child baptized. In doing so you
are accepting the responsibility of
training him (her) in the practice
of the faith. It will be your duty
to bring him (her) up to keep
God’s commandments as Christ
taught us, by loving God and our
neighbor…”
All too often we have many
children who have no sense of
the sacred in their life, and I truly
worry about them. How will they
cope when the storms of life hit
them? Where will they search for
answers?
It strikes me now that the seeds
of faith my mother planted so
many years ago have borne fruit
in my life. By word and deed she
taught me what it means to be
Catholic. And at the heart of my
Catholicism is faith in Jesus Christ
– a faith that has always been my
mother’s greatest gift to me.
_
Msgr. Heberto M. Diaz is Vicar
General of the Diocese of Brownsville and pastor of Mary, Mother of
the Church Parish in Brownsville.
Pope calls for Year of Faith
Pope Benedict XVI
declared a “Year of
Faith” which will begin
Oct. 11, 2012, the 50th
anniversary of the opening of the
Second Ecumenical Vatican Council and conclude Nov. 24, 2013,
which is the Solemnity of Christ
the King.
The Year of Faith, the Pope
said, “will be a moment of grace
and commitment to a more
complete conversion to God, to
strengthen our faith in Him and
proclaim Him with joy to the
people of our time.” The Pope
made the announcement on Oct.
16, 2011 during a Mass at St.
Peter’s Basilica finalizing a summit
organized by the recently formed
Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.
“The mission of the Church,
like Christ,” he said, “is essentially
to speak of God, to commemorate
His sovereignty, reminding everyone, especially Christians, who
have lost their identity, of God’s
right over what belongs to Him,
which is our lives.”
The new evangelization aims
to revivify Catholicism in traditionally Christian countries which
have been particularly affected by
secularization (the transformation
of society from close identification
with religious values and institutions toward nonreligious values
and secular institutions) in recent
decades.
More recently on Jan. 27, 2012,
Pope Benedict XVI addressed the
Church’s highest doctrinal office
(Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith) and said: “The upcoming year of faith, seeks to awaken
humanity at a critical moment”.
Deacon
Luis Zuniga
Director, Office for
Pastoral Planning
& San Juan Diego
Ministry Institute.
“In vast areas of the earth the
faith risks being extinguished,
like a flame without fuel” then he
added: “We are facing a profound
crisis of faith, a loss of a religious
sense which represents one of the
greatest challenges for the Church
today.”
The Holy Father hopes that
the Year of Faith will awaken in
the Church the desire “to restoring
God’s presence in this world, and
to giving man access to the faith,
enabling him to entrust himself
to the God who, in Jesus Christ,
loved us to the end.”“The renewal
of faith,” the Pope said, “must,
then, be a priority for the entire
Church in our time.”
The Holy Father published on
the 11th of October 2011 his most
recent Apostolic Letter “Motu Proprio Data” PORTA FIDEI “door of
faith” (Acts 14:27) for the induction of the Year of Faith (available
on the vatican.va website).
In his introduction he notes,
“The “door of faith” (Acts 14:27)
is always open for us, ushering us
into the life of communion with
God and offering entry into his
Church. It is possible to cross that
threshold when the word of God
is proclaimed and the heart allows
itself to be shaped by transforming
grace. To enter through that door
is to set out on a journey that lasts
a lifetime. It begins with baptism
(cf. Rom 6:4), through which we
can address God as Father, and
it ends with the passage through
death to eternal life, fruit of the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
whose will it was, by the gift of
the Holy Spirit, to draw those
who believe in him into his own
glory (cf. Jn 17:22). To profess
faith in the Trinity – Father, Son
and Holy Spirit – is to believe in
one God who is Love (cf. 1 Jn 4:8):
the Father, who in the fullness of
time sent his Son for our salvation;
Jesus Christ, who in the mystery
of his death and resurrection redeemed the world; the Holy Spirit,
who leads the Church across the
centuries as we await the Lord’s
glorious return.”
The beginning of the Year of
Faith coincides with the anniversaries of two great events which have
marked the life of the Church in
our days: the 50th anniversary of
the opening of the Second Vatican
Council, called by Blessed Pope
John XXIII (Oct. 11 1962), and the
20th of the promulgation of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church,
given to the Church by Blessed
Pope John Paul II (Oct. 11, 1992).
The Pope is encouraging all
the bishops of the world to take
on the initiative as “proclaiming
Christ to those who do not know
him or have, in fact, reduced him
to a mere historical character.” He
is entrusting everyone involved
to our Blessed Mother Mary, the
star of the new evangelization by
placing all those involved in the
new evangelization under her
protection; she who “helps every
Christian to be a valid witness to
the Gospel.”
CNS photo/Charles Platiau, Reuters
A statue of Joan of Arc is seen in the
courtyard of the headquarters of
France’s National Front political party in
Nanterre, France.
»Feast Day
- May 30
Spotlight on
St. Joan of Arc
May 30 is the feast of St. Joan
of Arc, the patroness of France.
Joan was born to a peasant family near Lorraine, France in the
15th century.
From a young age she heard
the voices of St. Michael, St.
Catherine, and St. Margaret
speaking to her. Then, in 1428,
when she was 13 years old, she
received a vision telling her to
go to the King of France and
help him reconquer his kingdom from the invading forces of
England and Burgundy.
Overcoming
opposition
and convincing members of
the court and of the Church,
she was given a small army. She
charged into battle bearing a
banner which bore the names
“Jesus” and “Mary” as well as a
symbol of the Holy Spirit.
Due to her leadership and
trust in God, she was able to
raise the siege of Orleans in
1429. Joan and her army went
on to win a series of battles. Because of her efforts, the king was
able to enter Rheims. He was
crowned with Joan at his side.
Eventually, Joan was captured by the forces of Burgundy
in May of 1430. When her own
king and army did nothing to
save her, she was sold to the
English. She was imprisoned
for a time and then put on trial.
Bishop Peter Cauchon of Beauvais presided over her trial. His
hope was that in being harsh
with Joan, the English would
help him become archbishop.
Joan was condemned to
death on counts of heresy,
witchcraft, and adultery. On
May 30, 1431, she was burned at
the stake in Rouen, France. She
was 19 years old.
Thirty years after her death,
her case was retried and she was
exonerated. In 1920, she was
canonized by Pope Benedict XV.
She is the patroness of France,
captives, soldiers, and those ridiculed for their piety.
Prayer to St. Joan of Arc
In the face of your enemies,
in the face of harassment, ridicule, and doubt, you held firm
in your faith. Even in your
abandonment, alone and without friends, you held firm in
your faith. Even as you faced
your own mortality, you held
firm in your faith. I pray that I
may be as bold in my beliefs as
you, St. Joan. I ask that you ride
alongside me in my own battles.
Help me be mindful that what
is worthwhile can be won when
I persist. Help me hold firm in
my faith. Help me believe in my
ability to act well and wisely.
Amen.
DIOCESE
Sister Marian
Strohmeyer, RSM
6
September 10, 1927 – April 17, 2012
The Valley Catholic
Sister Marian Strohmeyer of
the Sisters of Mercy, founder of
Comfort House hospice and the
Hope Medical Center in McAllen,
died on Tuesday, April 17, 2012.
She was 84.
A native of McAllen, Sister
Strohmeyer joined
the Sisters
of Mercy at
age 16 after
graduating
from high
school. She
was a registered nurse
STROHMEYER
and held a
master’s degree of public health
from University of California at
Berkeley and a master’s degree in
pastoral studies from Loyola University.
Her ministry was dedicated
to health care, mission work in
Central America and to serving
refugees and asylum seekers in the
U.S.
Sister Strohmeyer founded
Comfort House in 1989 to give
adults dying of AIDS a place to
die with dignity. The mission of
the facility quickly expanded to
serve the terminally ill of all ages
and ailments. She co-founded
the Hope Health Center in 1999,
which conducts more than 5,000
medical visits a year for the poor
and uninsured.
Sister Strohmeyer also operated Casa Merced for Central
American refugees on her family’s
property in rural McAllen, providing shelter for more than 4,000
refugees over 12 years.
A rosary service was held on
Friday, April 19, 2012 at Our Lady
of Sorrows Church in McAllen.
Funeral Mass was celebrated on
Saturday, April 20, 2012 at Our
Lady of Sorrows Church, followed
by interment at Roselawn Cemetery in McAllen.
Clergy
appointments
announced
Effective March 28, 2012
-Rev. Ernesto Magallon, Member of the Presbyteral Council
(Weslaco Deanery)
- Rev. Aglayde Rafael Vega, Member of the College of Consultors
Effective April 2, 2012
- Rev. Alfonso M. Guevara,
Liaison to the San Juan Nursing
Home in conjunction with present
assignments
Effective May 18, 2012
-Rev. Gregory T. Labus, Pastor of
Saint Joseph Parish in Edinburg
and relieved of his responsibilities
as Dean of the Weslaco Deanery
and Chaplain to the Serra Club in
Harlingen
Most recent deacons’
appointments:
-Deacon Jesus H. Reyes assigned
in service to Saint Anthony Parish
in Harlingen in conjunction with
present assignment
» Please see Appointments, p.14
Those Who Serve:
Deacon Felipe Treviño
‘A noble heart’
Conversion led to
call to the diaconate
The list of birthdays and
ordination anniversaries is
provided so that parishioners may
remember the priests, deacons and
religious in their prayers and send
them a note or a card.
MAY
» Birthdays
2 Rev. Msgr. Luis Javier Garcia
5 Rev. Jose Villalon
7 Rev. Hector Cruz
14 Rev. Jorge A. Gomez
23 Rev. Roy Lee Snipes
24 Rev. Gregory Kuczmanski
25 Rev. Michael Amesse
27 Rev. Francisco J. Solis
By ROSE YBARRA
The Valley Catholic
B
ROWNSVILLE
—
Deacon Felipe Treviño retired from active
ministry in 2008 for
health reasons. His 25 years as
a firefighter took its toll on his
body and he could no longer
handle the rigors of a busy deacon’s schedule.
“At first, I sat in the pews
because I had to,” said Deacon
Treviño, 75, a former Marine
and Korean War veteran. “I was
in a lot of pain. I didn’t serve at
all for while but that didn’t last
long. It just wasn’t me.”
Deacon Treviño is no longer assigned to a parish but
you wouldn’t know it from his
packed agenda. Parishes in the
Brownsville area call him when
they need an extra hand with
quinceañeras, funerals, weddings and more and he is happy
to help when he can. He also
serves at the 10:30 a.m. Mass
at his family’s parish, St. Joseph
Church in Brownsville.
“I missed serving,” he said. “I
really enjoy it. That is my life and
my love, being close to the Lord
and the consecration, holding up
the chalice.”
“He comes to serve with a
lot of love and humility,” said Father Oscar Siordia, pastor of St.
Joseph Church in Brownsville.
“He has a noble heart and a lot
of wisdom.”
Father Siordia also noted
Deacon Treviño’s commitment
to his wife of 53 years, Minerva
and the rest of his family, which
includes five grandchildren and
four great-grandchildren with
one more on the way.
“He is a loving and dedicated
husband, father and grandfather,” Father Siordia said.
Deacon Treviño said there
was a time when he was not following the Word of God or doing right by his family.
His conversion began more
than 30 years ago, when he was
41-years-old and, “completely
lost and broken.”
His sister-in-a-law invited
him to a Charismatic prayer
meeting in 1978. Deacon Treviño had been baptized and confirmed as an infant and later
made his first Holy Communion
so that he could be married in
the Church but had no spirituality in his life. At that point, he
and his wife, Minerva, had been
married 20 years and had three
children, ages, 19, 18 and 15.
“I was without God,” he
said. “I had a lot of vices, bad
habits. Everything bad that you
can name, I was into it. I knew I
needed God in my life. I told my
sister-in-law, ‘I’m tired. I don’t
want this life anymore.”
At that first prayer meeting,
»Birthday
Wishes
7 Deacon Antonio Osorio
10 DeaconJuan Pablo Navarro
14 Deacon Roberto Cantu
21 Deacon Juan M. Delgado
7 Sister Therese Cunnigham, S.H.Sp
» Anniversaries
The Valley Catholic/
Deacon Felipe Treviño was ordained to the permanent diaconate in 1985. He
retired from active ministry in 2008 but continues to help when called upon by
parishes in the Brownsville area. Being a deacon is, “my life and my love,” he
said.
Courtesy photo
Deacon Felipe Treviño and his wife, Minerva, have been married for more than
53 years. “They have passed down the values of faith and service to their family,”
said Father Oscar Siordia, pastor of St. Joseph Church in Brownsville. “Even their
grandchildren are active in the parish.”
Deacon Treviño said he read
the Bible for the first time in his
life. Later, the group sat him in a
chair and prayed over him.
“I was uncomfortable,” he
said. “I thought the whole meeting was a little weird. Nothing
happened after that first meeting. When it was time to go to a
second meeting, it was a struggle
with the devil. I could sense that
he really didn’t want me to go.”
After that, Deacon Treviño
said he started falling in love
with the Lord. He began healing the hurts that kept him away
from God.
“After a meeting, I went
home and got rid of all the bad
stuff,” he said. “I threw it all in
the trash and never looked back.
I have no regrets. It gets better
and better. I fall more in love
with Jesus every day.”
He was ordained to the permanent diaconate in 1985 and
served at Mary, Mother of the
Church Parish, Christ the King
Church, St. Joseph Church and
Parish of the Lord of Divine
Mercy in Brownsville before his
retirement. He was also an active member of the National Association of Hispanic Deacons.
In 1995, Deacon Treviño experienced the lowest point of his
life when his oldest child, a son
named Felipe, died in an electrical accident.
“It is an event that shaped
him,” said Father Guevara, who
served with Deacon Treviño at
Christ the King Church in the
1990s. “It impacted him a lot. He
used the experience to help others through their grief.”
Father Guevara added that
Deacon Treviño is passionate
about his vocation.
“He loves being a deacon,” Father Guevara said. “He
preaches God’s Word faithfully
and loves to bring people to the
faith.”
2 Rev. Carlos Zuniga
5 Rev. Msgr. Gustavo Barrera
5 Rev. Francisco Castillo
7 Rev. Francois Tsanga
10 Rev. Michael Amesse
10 Rev. Timothy Paulsen
11 Rev. Msgr. Louis Brum
12 Rev. Emmanuel Bialoncik
15 Rev. Honecimo Figueroa
15 Rev. Paul Roman
16 Rev. Thomas Luczak
23 Rev. Alejandro Flores
23 Rev. George Gonzalez
23 Rev. Leonard J. Mestas
23 Rev. Miguel Angel Ortega
24 Rev. Gregory Kuczmanski
25 Bishop Raymundo J. Peña
25 Rev. Alphonsus McHugh
25 Rev. Eduardo Gomez
25 Rev. Juan Pablo Davalos
25 Rev. Juan Rogelio Gutierrez
26 Rev. Ariel Oliver Angel
25 Rev. Leonel Lopez
26 Rev. Martin De La Cruz
26 Rev. Tomas Mateos-Retired
26 Rev. Ruben Delgado
27 Rev. Aglayde Rafael Vega
27 Rev. Eduardo Ortega
27 Rev. Francisco J. Solis
27 Rev. Frank Gomez - Retired
27 Rev. Gerald Frank
27 Rev. Gregory Labus
27 Rev. James Erving
27 Rev. Jose Luis Garcia
27 Rev. Mario A. Castro
27 Rev. Oscar O. Siordia
28 Rev. Alfonso Guevara
29 Rev. Hilary J. Brzezinski
29 Rev. Ignacio Tapia
29 Rev. Jorge A. Gomez
29 Rev. Luis Fernando Sanchez
29 Rev. Salvador Ramirez
30 Rev. Gerald McGovern-Retired
31 Rev. Amador Garza
31 Rev. Ernesto Magallon
31 Rev. Mishael Koday
31 Rev. Terrence Gorski
5 Deacon Bruno Cedillo
5 Deacon Juan M. Delgado
5 Deacon John P. Kinch
» Please see Anniversaries, p.14
DIOCESE
Meet the co-hosts of
“Young Adult Matters”
New tv program
airs on Valley
Catholic Network
Campus Ministry, Davila has been
part of various organizations in
the diocese, including D.Y.R.T.,
Catholic Daughters, and ACTS.
She also attended World Youth
Day in Madrid with the Diocesan
contingent this past summer.
Davila’s role with the CYAM office
consists primarily of evangelization
through social media, as well as
event coordination.
Meet Ruby Fuentes: Born
and raised in the Valley, Fuentes
also began her involvement
with Campus Ministry after
participating in a Bronc Awakening
retreat. She is currently a junior at
UTPA studying Psychology. Aside
from Campus Ministry, Fuentes
represents youth and young
adults in the Diocesan Pastoral
Council, which meets quarterly to
advise Bishop Flores. In addition,
Fuente coordinates the Campus
Ministry at South Texas College in
McAllen and is an active member
of her parish, St. John the Baptist
in San Juan. Her role with the
CYAM office consists primarily
of administrative support, event
coordination and parish outreach.
---
By MIGUEL SANTOS
The Valley Catholic
In recent weeks, two talented
young ladies were hired to share
one part-time position with the
office of Campus and Young Adult
Ministry (CYAM) in our diocese.
Amy Ann Davila and Ruby Fuentes
are both students at the University
of Texas Pan-American, and
are active members of Campus
Ministry.
Together, Davila and Fuentes
serve as co-hosts of “Young Adult
Matters,” a new television show
produced by KMBH and the
Office of Campus and Young
Adult Ministry. The show airs on
Valley Catholic Network, Channel
38.3, weekly on Monday nights
at 7:30 p.m., with a re-broadcast
on Tuesdays at 12:30 p.m. Young
Adult Matters also airs on the local
PBS station (Cable Channel 10)
every Sunday at 9:30 a.m.
Meet Amy Davila: Originally
from Houston, Davila began her
involvement with Campus Ministry
after participating in a Bronc
Awakening retreat. She is currently
FUENTES
DAVILA
a senior at UTPA studying Criminal
Justice, and is preparing to graduate
in August of this year. Aside from
For more information regarding young adult
activities in the diocese, please contact Miguel
Santos: [email protected] or visit online at:
www.cyam.net
Student introduces winning author
The Valley Catholic
EDINBURG
—
Danya Selber, a fourthgrader at St. Joseph
Catholic School, introduced the Bluebonnet
Author of the Year at
the Texas Library Association Conference on
April 19 at the George
R. Brown Convention
Center in Houston.
Selber, 9, prepared
and delivered a threeminute speech to present the award-winning
author, Tom Angleberger, to a crowd of
about 2,000.
Sponsored by the
Texas Library Association, the Texas Bluebonnet Award Program
encourages students in
grades 3-6 to read for
pleasure. Each year,
a selection committee chooses 20 books
to comprise the Texas
Bluebonnet
Award
Master List.
Angelberger’s novel,
The Strange Case of the
Origami Yoda, was voted as the favorite book
on the 2012 Master List
by students all over the
state. In the book, a
group of sixth-graders
try to figure out if an
origami, finger puppet
Yoda is magic or not.
The book is presented as a collection
of stories gathered
by Tommy, the main
character and told by
The Valley Catholic
Danya Selber, 9, a fourth grade student at St. Joseph School in
Edinburg, introduced award-winning author Tom Angleberger
at Texas Library Association’s annual conference in Houston on
April 19. She is the daughter of Greg and Kimberly Selber.
his classmates, some of
whom believe the Yoda
has mystical powers
and others that do not.
“My favorite part is
when they are going to
see if Sarah liked Tommy because Tommy
liked her,” Selber said.
“He thought she was
real pretty from the beginning of the school
year.”
The Texas Library
Association consists of
10 regional districts.
Each district selected
one school in a random
drawing to represent
the district.
St. Joseph Catholic School was picked
from a pool of 200 in
its district (District 4).
From there, Selber was
selected in a drawing
of eligible students in
grades 3-6 who have
read at least five titles
from the Bluebonnet
Master List.
The 10 statewide
winners, including Selber, were also given the
opportunity to ask the
author two questions
about the book.
The District 4 representative was also
assigned the task of introducing the winning
author.
“I don’t know if she
understands how lucky
she is because everybody wants a student
from their school to
introduce the author,”
said Lupita Davila, the
librarian at St. Joseph
Catholic School. “It is
truly a great honor.”
Davila said she was
pleased when Selber’s
name was drawn because she possesses all
the qualities of a good
speaker.
“She is very verbal and knowledgeable,” Davila said. “We
were confident that she
would do well.”
Davila added that
Selber holds a school
record as the youngest, “millionaire.” As a
second-grader, Selber
netted a million words
read through the Accelerated Reader program.
Selber, who enjoys
science, plans to become a chemist, “like
Marie Curie.”
“I want to win at
least one Nobel Prize,”
she said.
7
Follow the way of love: Part II
I
n 1992, the Bishops of the
United States issued a Message to Families entitled
“Follow the Way of Love” in
which they remind us as families
that “the family exists at the heart
of all societies. It is the first and
most basic community to which
every person belongs. There is
nothing more fundamental to
our vitality as a society and as a
church. For, in the words of Pope
John Paul II, “the future of humanity passes by the way of the family”
(On the Family,”86).”
In last month’s column, I
included six of the thirteen points
of this Bishops’ Pastoral message
in which they remind us, as did
Blessed John Paul II that the sacredness of life lies in the ordinary
events of life. As we celebrate the
20th anniversary of this beautiful
document, we continue to look
at what the Bishops of the United
States say as they remind us that:
“You (families) carry out the mission of the church of the home in
ordinary ways when ……
7) You serve one another, often
sacrificing your own wants, for
the others’ good. As the Marriage
Encounter Movement has taught
countless couples, “love is a decision” and we are called to “do the
loving thing” when we feel like
it and when we don’t. Recently I
took a day off during the week to
do housework, etc. because of the
full weekend work schedules, and
my daughter said that she would
sure love some waffles but I told
her that I was really tired. But I
did prepare some waffles for her
anyway and when she came into
kitchen, she said “Thanks Mom! I
know, when you love someone you
do the loving thing even when you
don’t feel like it”.
8) You forgive and seek
reconciliation. Over and over
you let go of hurts and grudges to
make peace with one another. It
helps to say the words “Will you
forgive me” instead of “I’m sorry”
(sometimes with clenched teeth
like children do) because it owns
that there is a hurt and it opens the
door to reconciliation.
9) You celebrate life- birthdays
Lydia Pesina
Director, Family
Life Office
and weddings, births and deaths,
a first day of school and a graduation, rites of passage into adulthood, new jobs, old friends, family
reunions, surprise visits, holy days
and holidays. One of our Pesina
family rituals for family celebrations is to use some of the blessing
prayers found in the book “Prayers
for the Domestic Church” by Fr.
Edward Hays which includes
blessing prayers for many occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, Thanksgiving, Christmas,
Easter, etc.
10) You welcome the stranger,
the lonely, and the grieving person
into your home. In Romans 12:
13-16, St. Paul tells us “Contribute to the needs of the holy ones,
exercise hospitality. Bless those
who persecute you, bless and do
not curse them. Rejoice with those
who rejoice and weep with those
who weep. Have the same regard
for one another; do not be haughty
but associate with the lowly; do
not be wise in your own estimation.”
11) You act justly in your
community when you treat others with respect, stand against
discrimination and racism, and
work to overcome hunger, poverty,
homelessness, illiteracy. For many
years now, my favorite scripture
text is Micah 6:8 “ This is what the
Lord asks of you: only this, to act
justly, to love tenderly, and to walk
humbly with your God.”
12) You affirm life as a precious gift of God. Life is a gift to be
treasured and protected at every
age and stage; from the unborn to
those in the shadow of death.
13) You raise up vocations to
the priesthood and religious life
as you encourage your children to
listen for God’s call and respond to
» Please see Love, p.14
New Band Instruments
Courtesy photo
Picture caption: George Rogers, Rio Grande Valley Music Festival President,
presents the donation to the Guadalupe Regional Middle School Band. Holding the check are band members Alejandra Rodriguez, Aylin Aguilar, Lorena
Garcia, and Carolina Carrillo. Looking on are Jose Arizmendi, Band Director;
Kathy Rogers; Michael Motyl; School President; Kathy Stapleton, Principal;
and the Band.
The Rio Grande Valley Music Festival made a donation of $1,000 to the
Guadalupe Regional Middle School Band to help in obtaining new band
instruments. The Festival is a non-profit organization with all net proceeds
used to support youth music education in the Valley. Festival information,
including application procedure, is available at www.rgvmf.com.
8
DIOCESE
DIOCESE
9
10
IN THE NEWS
Exhibit of late
pope will open
in New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS — A major exhibit of the personal effects
of Blessed John Paul II, titled “I
Have Come to You Again,” will
open its three-city U.S. tour in
the Archdiocese of New Orleans
in February 2013, and the exhibit
organizer who has handled four
previous Vatican exhibits in the
United States said he was bracing
for record crowds.
Joining Archbishop Gregory
M. Aymond of New Orleans April
13 to formally announce the exhibit was Father Malcolm Neyland, a
priest of the Diocese of Lubbock,
Texas, who also serves as director
of the nonprofit National Exhibits
Association.
The New Orleans exhibit will
open Feb. 4, 2013, and run through
early May. It will be housed at
Schulte Hall on the campus of
Notre Dame Seminary. The exhibit
will move on to the Archdiocese of
Seattle from June through August
and then to the Archdiocese of
Washington, D.C., from September through November.
‘Fortnight for freedom’
Bishops urge
Catholics to resist
unjust laws
By NANCY FRAZIER O’BRIEN
WASHINGTON — American
Catholics must resist unjust laws
“as a duty of citizenship and an
obligation of faith,” a committee
of the U.S. bishops said in a new
statement on religious liberty.
Titled “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty,” the 12-page statement by the Ad Hoc Committee
on Religious Liberty also calls for
“a fortnight for freedom” from
June 21, the vigil of the feasts of
St. John Fisher and St. Thomas
More, to July 4, U.S. Independence Day.
“This special period of prayer,
study, catechesis and public action would emphasize both our
Christian and American heritage
of liberty,” the committee said.
“Dioceses and parishes around
the country could choose a date
Sunday, May 20
CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World
Catholic nuns walk in a eucharistic procession following a special Mass
and prayers for the protection of religious liberty and life in the neighborhood surrounding St. Constance Church in Chicago March 29.
in that period for special events
that would constitute a great national campaign of teaching and
witness for religious liberty.”
Made public April 12, the
document was approved by the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bish-
ops’ Administrative Committee
during its March meeting for
publication as a committee statement.
The ad hoc committee opened
its statement with several “concrete examples” of recent threats
to religious liberty, saying that
“this is not a theological or legal
dispute without real-world consequences.”
Cited first was the Department of Health and Human Services’ mandate that most health
plans must include contraception,
sterilization and some abortioninducing drugs free of charge,
even if the employer is morally
opposed to such services.
“In an unprecedented way,
the federal government will both
force religious institutions to facilitate and fund a product contrary to their own moral teaching and purport to define which
religious institutions are ‘religious
enough’ to merit protection of
their religious liberty,” the statement said. “These features of the
‘preventive services’ mandate
amount to an unjust law.”
Among other examples of “religious liberty under attack” the
bishops named:
— Immigration laws in Alabama and other states that “forbid what the government deems
‘harboring’ of undocumented immigrants -- and what the church
deems Christian charity and pastoral care to those immigrants.”
— An attempt by the Connecticut Legislature in 2009 to restructure Catholic parishes.
— Discrimination against
Christian students on college
campuses.
— Government actions in
Boston, San Francisco, the District of Columbia and the state
of Illinois that have “driven local Catholic Charities out of the
business of providing adoption or
foster care services” because the
agencies would not place children
with same-sex or unmarried heterosexual couples.
— A New York City rule that
bars small church congregations
from renting public schools on
weekends for worship services,
while allowing such rentals by
nonreligious groups.
— Changes in federal contracts for human trafficking
grants that require Catholic agencies “to refer for contraceptive
and abortion services in violation
of Catholic teaching.”
The statement quotes the
Founding Fathers and the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr. to bolster
its arguments.
Rev. King, writing from jail in
Birmingham, Ala., in 1963, described an unjust law as one “that
is out of harmony with the moral
law,” and said he agreed with St.
Augustine that “an unjust law is
no law at all.”
“An unjust law cannot be
obeyed,” the bishops’ statement
said. “In the face of an unjust law,
an accommodation is not to be
sought, especially by resorting to
equivocal words and deceptive
practices.
“If we face today the prospect
of unjust laws, then Catholics in
America, in solidarity with our
fellow citizens, must have the
courage not to obey them,” it added. “No American desires this.
No Catholic welcomes it. But if it
should fall upon us, we must discharge it as a duty of citizenship
and an obligation of faith.”
The bishops also distinguished between conscientious
objection and an unjust law.
“Conscientious
objection
permits some relief to those who
object to a just law for reasons of
conscience — conscription being
the most well-known example,”
the committee said. “An unjust
law is ‘no law at all.’ It cannot be
obeyed, and therefore one does
not seek relief from it, but rather
its repeal.”
The statement also raised the
issue of religious freedom abroad
and said “the age of martyrdom
has not passed.”
“Assassinations, bombings of
churches, torching of orphanages
— these are only the most violent
attacks Christians have suffered
because of their faith in Jesus
Christ,” the bishops said. “It is our
task to strengthen religious liberty at home, ... so that we might defend it more vigorously abroad.”
The statement called on
“American foreign policy, as well
as the vast international network
of Catholic agencies” to make “the
promotion of religious liberty an
ongoing and urgent priority.”
The bishops assigned special
responsibility for advancing religious freedom to several groups:
—Those who hold public office must “protect and defend
those fundamental liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights,” regardless of their political party.
— Leaders of Catholic hospitals, universities and social service agencies “who may be forced
to choose between the good
works we do by faith, and fidelity
to that faith itself ” were encouraged to “hold firm, to stand fast
and to insist upon what belongs
to you by right as Catholics and
Americans.”
— Priests must offer “a catechesis on religious liberty suited
to the souls in your care,” a responsibility that is shared with
“writers, producers, artists, publishers, filmmakers and bloggers
employing all the means of communications.”
In addition to the “fortnight
for freedom” June 21 to July 4,
the bishops designated the feast
of Christ the King — Nov. 25
this year — as “a day specifically
employed by bishops and priests
to preach about religious liberty,
both here and abroad.”
NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL 11
May0 2012 - The Valley Catholic
Cumplirá su deseo
Fundación
Make-A-Wish
hará posible que
joven conozca a
Benedicto XVI
E
Por ROSE YBARRA
The Valley Catholic
BROWNSVILLE — Cuando
a los niños y adolecentes se les
concede un deseo a través de la
fundación Make-A-Wish, muchos
piden conocer atletas profesionales o estrellas de cine.
Armando Sánchez, 17, pidió
conocer al Papa Benedicto XVI en
el Vaticano.
“Cuando me dijeron que tenía
la oportunidad de ir a donde yo
quisiera a conocer a quién yo
quisiera, sí pensé en celebridades
pero dije no,” dijo Armando Sánchez, un estudiante en la preparatoria Hanna en Brownsville. “Yo
quiero conocer al Papa y estar en
donde fue fundada la iglesia por
Pedro. Quiero ver las grandiosas
e importantes obras maestras y arquitectura.”
Armando y su madre, María
de la Luz Sánchez están programados a conocer al Santo Padre en su
audiencia general el 2 de mayo en
la Basílica de San Pedro.
“Nunca me imaginé que
pediría un viaje como este,” dijo la
Sra. Sánchez. “Pensé que querría ir
a Florida, a visitar Disney World.
Cuando dijo que quería visitar el
Vaticano, mi primera reacción fue,
‘¿enserio?’”
La fundación Make-A-Wish
concede deseos a niños y adolecentes con una condición médica que
amenaza su vida. La organización
ha cumplido más de 220,200 deseos desde que se fundó en 1980,
según su página de internet.
La Sra. Sánchez dijo que el
departamento de bomberos de
Brownsville fue fundamental para
hacer este viaje posible. El departamento de bomberos organizó
una carrera de 5K y vendió platos,
donando las ganancias a la fundación Make-A-Wish en honor
a Armando. Armando es un explorador con el departamento de
bomberos de Brownsville. También es cadete mayor con la patrulla civil aérea en el ROTC de
su escuela y es un monaguillo en
su parroquia, la Catedral de la In-
Sigue el camino
del amor
The Valley Catholic
El Departamento de Bomberos de Brownsville ha llevado acabo actividades para recaudar
fondos para que Armando Sánchez, de 17 años de edad, quien padece cáncer, pueda
conocer en persona al Papa Benedicto XVI.
maculada Concepción.
Además de pasar tiempo con
su mamá y amigos, Armando también disfruta de pasar tiempo con
su hermana mayor, Vianney, su
cuñado y su sobrinito. Tabeen le
gusta leer y ver películas. Dakota
Fanning y Robert Downey Jr. son
sus actores favoritos.
Armando ha sido paciente del
Centro de Cáncer M.D. Anderson
en Houston por 16 años. El tiene
múltiples tumores en su corazón,
cerebro y vías ópticas entre otros
padecimientos pero su madre dice
que nunca ha querido trato especial o arreglos.
“Como padre, creo que
muchos de nosotros deseamos
poder poner a nuestros hijos en
una burbuja para que nada los
dañe pero yo pienso que el sobre
protegerlos les hace más daño que
bien,” dijo la Sra. Sánchez. “Armando es un ejemplo para todo el
mundo. El no necesita o quiere la
ayuda de nadie. El se cuida solo. Es
muy fuerte.”
Depuse de la preparatoria, Ar-
mando planea continuar sus estudios en patología. También está
pensando en el sacerdocio. “Me
gustan los programas como CSI,
Bones, House y Mentes Criminales pero también me gustan las
películas sobre los santos,” dijo.
Armando dijo que siempre ha
sentido una cercanía especial con
Dios.
Cuando tenía como cuatro
años, él solía inhalar y exhalar
profundamente cada que su mamá
pasaba por una Iglesia Católica.
“Un día, finalmente le pregunte porque hacia eso,” dijo la
Sra. Sánchez. “Me respondió, ‘Le
estoy dando mi energía a Dios
para que El se la dé a los que están
cansados.”
Armando dijo que el pasó
por un corto periodo en 5º año
en el que estaba enojado por su
condición, pero además de eso, la
ha aceptado.
“Algunas personas tienen trabajos estresantes o presión en sus
casa, esta es la cruz que yo cargo,”
el dijo.
Segunda Parte
n 1992, los obispos de
Estados Unidos publicaron un mensaje a las
familias llamado “Sigue
la Senda del Amor” en donde nos
recuerdan como familias que “la
familia existe en el corazón de
todas las sociedades. Es la primera y más básica comunidad a la
cual toda persona pertenece. No
hay nada más fundamental para
nuestra vitalidad como sociedad
y como iglesia. En las palabras de
Juan Pablo II, “el futuro de la humanidad pasa por el camino de la
familia” (On the Family, “86).”
En la columna del mes pasado, incluí seis de los trece puntos
de este mensaje Pastoral de los
Obispos donde nos recuerdan, al
igual que el beato Juan Pablo II
que la santidad de la vida se encuentra en los eventos ordinarios
de la vida. Mientras celebramos
el vigésimo aniversario de este
hermoso documento, continuamos viendo lo que los Obispos
de Estados Unidos dicen mientras nos recuerdan que: “Ustedes
(familias) llevan a cabo la misión
de la iglesia del hogar de maneras
ordinarias cuando……
7) Sirven a otra persona,
muchas veces sacrificando sus
propios antojos, por el bien de
otros. El Movimiento de Encuentro Matrimonial a enseñado a
un sinnúmero de parejas que, “el
amor es una decisión” y somos
llamados a “hacer actos de amor”
cuando tenemos ganas y cuando
no. Recientemente tomé un día
de descanso durante la semana
para hacer quehaceres de hogar,
etc. a causa de mi agenda llena
de trabajo en fin de semana. Mi
hija me comento que le encantarían unos waffles pero le dije
que estaba muy cansada. De
cualquier manera le prepare
unos waffles y cuando llegó a la
cocina, dijo “Gracias Mama! Lo
sé, cuando amas a alguien haces
actos de amor aún cuando no
tienes ganas”
8) Perdonas y buscas reconciliación. Una y otra vez dejas
ir heridas y resentimientos para
hacer las paces uno con el otro.
Ayuda decir las palabras “me perdonas” envés de decir “lo siento”
(algunas veces con los dientes
apretados como suelen hacer
los niños) porque se dan cuenta
del daño y se abre la puerta a la
reconciliación.
9) Celebras los cumpleaños
y bodas, nacimientos y muertes,
el primer día de clases y graduación, ritos de transición a la
edad adulta, nuevo trabajo, viejos
amigos, reuniones familiares,
visitas sorpresas, días santos y
festivos. Uno de nuestros ritos
Lydia Pesina
Directora, Oficina
de Vida Familiar
de la familia Pesina para las
celebraciones familiares es el
llevar a cabo algunas oraciones
de bendición que se encuentran en el libro “Prayers for the
Domestic Church” (Oraciones
para la Iglesia Domestica) por
Fr. Edward Hays que incluyen
oraciones de bendición para
distintas ocasiones tales como
cumpleaños, aniversarios, Día de
Acción de Gracias, Navidad, Día
de Pascua, etc.
10) Das la bienvenida al extraño, al solitario, y a la persona
en duelo a tu hogar. En Romanos 12: 13-16, San Pablo nos
dice “Consideren como propias
las necesidades de los santos y
practiquen generosamente la
hospitalidad. Bendigan a los que
los persiguen, bendigan y no
maldigan nunca. Alégrense con
los que están alegres, y lloren con
los que lloran. Vivan en armonía
unos con otros, no quieran
sobresalir, pónganse a la altura de
los más humildes. No presuman
de sabios.”
11) Actúas justamente en
la comunidad cuando tratas a
los demás con respeto, estas en
contra de la discriminación y
racismo, y trabajas para acabar
con el hambre, la pobreza, el
analfabetismo y ayudas al desamparado. Por muchos años mi
texto favorito de escritura ha sido
Miqueas 6:8 “Se te ha indicado,
hombre, qué es lo bueno y qué
exige de ti el Señor: nada más que
practicar la justicia, amar la fidelidad y caminar humildemente
con tu Dios.”
12) Afirmas la vida como un
precioso regalo de Dios. La vida
es un regalo que debe ser atesorado y protegido en cualquier edad
y etapa; desde los no nacidos
hasta los que están a la sombra de
la muerte.
13) Inculcas vocaciones
al sacerdocio y vida religiosa
mientras fomentas a tus hijos que
escuchen el llamado de Dios y
respondan a la gracia de Dios.
Cada uno somos llamados a
ser fieles a la vocación que Dios
nos llama; ya sea vida religiosa,
la vocación del matrimonio o la
vida de soltero en servicio a los
demás. Que el Señor continúe
guiando cada uno de nosotros
con su Espíritu Santo para que
podamos seguir esa vocación
para la gloria y honor de Su
nombre.
Alertas de Acción
The Valley Catholic
El domingo 15 de abril, tuvo lugar en la ciudad de Brownsville las ejemplificaciones del Segundo grado y del Tercer grado de los Caballeros de Colón en español en el salón parroquial de la iglesia San José, y como anfitrión el flamante Consejo 15448. Los 34 candidatos y
varios de los ya miembros de los Grados Mayores asistieron a la Santa Misa a las 8:30 A.M. en la iglesia San José.
Por favor visite el sitio web de la Diócesis de Brownsville www.cdob.org para la información más reciente
sobre la presente batalla contra la libertad religiosa y
el mandato obligatorio del Departamento de Salud de
EE.UU. y Servicios Humanos para que los empleadores ofrezcan cobertura de seguro gratis para los anticonceptivos que pueden ser abortivos, esterilizantes y
otros servicios.
12
NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL
The Valley Catholic - Mayo 2012
Elección de madre: la vida
Joven madre
enfrenta dificultades
y decide traer al
mundo a su hijo
Por ROSE YBARRA
The Valley Catholic
La ilustración muestra al padre Félix Varela
en 1853. El padre de origen cubano,
conocido como promotor de los derechos
humanos, libertad para los esclavos y la
independencia de Cuba sobre España,
migró a los Estados Unidos en 1823.
Declarado
venerable
sacerdote
cubano
Conocido por
su ministerio en
E.E.U.U.
NUEVA YORK — El Vaticano
ha declarado venerable a padre
Félix Varela, sacerdote cubano del
siglo 19 que trabajó en Nueva York
durante muchos años y también
vivió en Florida.
Las arquidiócesis de Nueva
York y Miami, donde hay muchos
proponentes de la causa de santidad de padre Varela, anunciaron la
declaración el Domingo de Pascua,
8 de abril.
Esta reconoce que el sacerdote
vivió las virtudes cristianas heroicas y es el primer paso oficial en
el camino del sacerdote hacia la
santidad.
El segundo paso es la beatificación y el tercero es la santidad.
En general, cada uno de esos pasos
necesita un milagro que sea aceptado por la iglesia como habiendo
ocurrido a través de la intercesión
del posible santo.
Durante la visita del papa
Benedicto XVI a Cuba del 26 al 28
de marzo él elogió a padre Varela
como “’un ejemplo brillante’ de las
contribuciones que una persona de
fe puede hacer para la edificación
de una sociedad más justa”, señaló
el arzobispo Thomas G. Wenski de
Miami en un comunicado de prensa publicado por la arquidiócesis.
“En sus propias palabras Varela
nos recuerda que ‘sin virtud no hay
auténtica patria’”.
Varela fue ordenado como sacerdote a los 23 años.
En 1821, Varela fue electo
representante del pueblo cubano
ante el Parlamento de Madrid,
donde vivió por tres años. Sin
embargo, sus propuestas a favor
de la abolición de la esclavitud y
de la autonomía de las provincias
americanas le ganaron una pena
de muerte. Logró escaparse de la
captura al exiliarse en Nueva York.
M
ISSION — Paula
Estrada y sus esposo tenían un hijo
de un año y una hija
de cinco meses cuando ella se dio
cuenta que estaba embarazada
con su tercer niño.
“Lloré y lloré,” dijo Estrada,
21 de Palmview, quien también
tiene custodia de su hermano de
13 años. “No quería otro bebé.
¿Cómo íbamos a darle de comer a
nuestros niños y comprar pañales
para los tres bebés?
Estrada empezó a preguntar
sobre la pastilla abortiva pero admite, “no se sentía bien.”
Estrada fue al Centro de Embarazos de McAllen para hacerse un examen de embarazo.
El centro principalmente sirve a
mujeres con embarazos en crisis,
dándoles servicios gratis y confidenciales así como pruebas de
embarazo, ecografías, consejería
y ropa para bebé y utensilios en
un ambiente sin prejuicios.
En el centro, le mostraron a
Estrada un video con la difícil realidad sobre el aborto.
“El video mostraba partes de
bebé ensangrentadas, pequeñas
manos y pies,” dijo. “Ver ese video
me regresó a la realidad. No había
manera de que yo le hiciera eso a
mi bebé, absolutamente nada.”
Estrada estaba bastante segura de que se quedaría con el bebé
pero no al 100 por ciento cuando
dejo el centro de embarazos ese
día. No llamó o regresó al centro
por semanas así que el personal
no estaba seguro de la suerte del
bebé.
“Estábamos muy preocupados,” dijo Diamantina Barba, una
consejera en el Centro de Em-
Foto de cortesía
Paula Estrada luce feliz al lado de su hijo Roel. Estrada acudió al Centro de Embarazos de McAllen para confirmar si se encontraba
embarazada y buscaba información sobre la pastilla abortiva. En el centro tuvo oportunidad de darse cuenta en lo que consistía un
aborto, información que en un futuro cambiara la mentalidad de Estrada quien decidió tener a su niño.
barazos de McAllen. “Rezamos
y rezamos por ella y el bebé. Ella
estaba recibiendo mucha presión
externa para que abortara al bebé.
La gente le estaba diciendo que
no había forma de que pudiera
criar a tres niños pequeños pero
nosotros seguíamos diciéndole
que Dios tiene un Plan Divino
para su bebé. El estaba destinado
a nacer.”
Barba dijo que ella y el personal estaban emocionados cuando entró Estrada, pidiendo una
ecografía porque había decidido
quedarse con su bebé. El centro
de embarazos le dio un neceser,
ropa de bebé y una caja grande
de pañales en anticipación por el
nacimiento de su bebé — quien
ya saben que será un niño, gracias
a la ecografía.
Estrada dio a luz a un niño
sano, de ocho libras llamado Roel
el 28 de noviembre del 2011.
“Es un bebe muy feliz,” dijo
Estrada. “Es todo risas. Lo amo
tanto — ese es mi gordo.”
Estrada tuvo que lidiar con
una vida con dificultades, sin
embargo es una sobreviviente. Su
padre murió de cáncer en el 2004
cuando ella sólo tenía 13 años.
El año siguiente, su madre recibió una sentencia de 18 años en
prisión. Ella sigue encarcelada en
un centro de detención en Minnesota.
Estrada y su hermano menor
estuvieron brincando en diferentes casas con sus parientes hasta
que ella cumplió los 16. Fue cuando dejó la escuela para poder
trabajar tiempo completo y poder
mantenerse a ella y a su hermano.
La vida de Estrada ha sido
difícil pero ella cree que haber
abortado hubiera hecho su vida
aun más difícil.
Sus ojos se llenan de lagrimas
con el sólo hecho de pensar que
en una ocasión considero abortar
a su precioso bebé. Aunque le dio
vida a su bebé, ella se avergüenza
de haber considerado el aborto.
Ella sabe, sin embargo, que la culpabilidad hubiera sido insoportable si hubiera llevado a cabo el
aborto.
“Pienso que siempre me hubiera cuestionado sobre mi bebé,”
ella dice. “¿Cuántos años tendría?
¿Cómo hubiera sido él o ella?
¿Cómo se hubiera visto?”
Con forme se acerca el día de
las madres, Estrada dijo que esta
reflexionando en la bendición de
ser madre.
“La gente alrededor del mundo usan la palabra, “amor” tan
fácilmente… amo esta blusa, amo
a este muchacho que acabo de
conocer, amo esta canción, pero
no hay amor como el que una
madre tiene por sus hijos. Es un
amor muy fuerte.”
Se exhorta a que se resistan contra leyes injustas
Diócesis realizarán
campaña de oración
de 15 días
Por NANCY FRAZIER
O’BRIEN
WASHINGTON — Los
católicos de Estados Unidos deben resistirse en contra de leyes
injustas “como deber cívico y
obligación de fe”, se dijo en una
declaración sobre libertad religiosa emanada de un comité de los
obispos de Estados Unidos.
En la declaración, contenida
en un escrito de 12 páginas redactado por un comité ad hoc,
formado con propósito de defender la libertad religiosa, se
hacía también un llamado a guardar “una quincena de libertad”
que iría del 21 de junio, vigilia
de la fiesta de San Juan Fisher y
Santo Tomás More, hasta el 4 de
julio, día de la Independencia de
los Estados Unidos.
Y se invitaba a dos semanas
de oración, estudio, catequesis y
acción pública en todas las diócesis y parroquias.
El documento, que salió a luz
pública el 12 de abril, había sido
aprobado por el Comité Administrativo de la Conferencia de
Obispos Católicos de los Estados
Unidos, USCCB, durante su reunión del mes de marzo, para su
publicación, como declaración
oficial del comité.
En la declaración se ofrecían
varios ejemplos de lo que se describía como amenazas recientes
en contra de la libertad religiosa,
afirmando que “esto no es una
disputa teológica o legal vacía de
consecuencias reales en nuestro
mundo”.
Primero se citaba la ordenanza impuesta por el departamento
de Salud y Servicios Humanos
mediante la cual se obligaba a incluir en la mayoría de planes de
salud la práctica de esterilización,
contracepción y el uso de algunas
drogas que inducen el aborto;
todo, en forma gratuita, incluso si
el empleado en cuestión se opusiera a tales servicios por seguir la
moral en conciencia.
Y entre otros ejemplos en los
que claramente se ven “que la
libertad religiosa está sometida
a ataques” los obispos mencionaban en su declaración los siguientes puntos:
—Leyes de inmigración en
Alabama y otros estados del país
que “prohíben lo que el gobierno
tilda de ‘encubrimiento’ a favor
de inmigrantes indocumentados
y que la iglesia, por el contrario,
llama caridad cristiana y cuidado
pastoral a favor de esos inmigrantes”.
—Intento de la Legislatura del
estado de Connecticut, en el año
2009, de reestructurar las parroquias católicas.
—Discriminación en contra
de estudiantes católicos en recintos universitarios.
—Acciones por parte del gobierno local en Boston, San Francisco, el Distrito de Columbia
y el estado de Illinois que “han
corrido a Catholic Charities de
actividades mediante las cuales
se buscaba la adopción de menores o servicios de familias subrogadas” con el pretexto de que
las agencias católicas se negaron
a destinar a menores a que vivieran con parejas formadas de dos
personas del mismo sexo o parejas normales, de hombre y mujer,
pero que no estaban casados.
—Una ordenanza de la Ciudad de Nueva York que les prohíbe a las congregaciones de iglesias pequeñas que renten espacio
en escuelas públicas, los fines de
semana, para servicios de culto,
concediéndoles ese privilegio de
renta a grupos que no estén afiliados a ninguna religión.
—Cambios en contratos federales sobre asignaciones en operaciones en contra de tráfico con
humanos en los que les exigen a
las agencias católicas “que envíen
a las personas necesitadas a que
reciban contraceptivos y/o servicios de aborto, en violación de las
enseñanzas católicas”.
Mayo 2012 - The Valley Catholic
“Cantaré tu alabanza”
Coro en español en
Nuestra Señora
Estrella del Mar
celebra 40 años de
ministerio musical
Por IRMA WOLCOTT
The Valley Catholic
PUERTO ISABEL — ¡Aleluya! ¡El Señor ha resucitado! Ya
no vivimos en obscuridad, si
no que la luz de Cristo brilla sobre nosotros para mostrarnos el
camino. Que nuestras voces celebren al Señor resucitado hoy y
siempre.
¿Cómo podemos mostrar el
regocijo y alegría que han penetrado nuestros corazones mientras viajamos con Jesús durante la
Cuaresma? Ahora que ya no estamos en la obscuridad, nuestras
almas están hambrientas y claman hacia Dios. Distintas personas se regocijan en su nombre de
maneras diferentes y esperamos
adorarlo con todo lo que hacemos.
Así comenzó el deseo de
adorar a nuestro Señor para Mary
Lou Galván y su inspiración de
comenzar un coro en español en
la Iglesia Católica Nuestra Señora
Estrella del Mar en Puerto Isabel.
Galván recuerda con mucha ternura en su voz, las dificultades y
dichas de cuando comenzó todo
hace 40 años.
El coro en español se formó
en 1972 con voluntarios guiados
por la Hermana Guadalupe Cortez quien animó a Galván a apre-
Ordinations,
continued from pg. 1
my mind and in my heart until one
day after much prayer and much
thinking about it, I decided to take
the next step and officially entered
a seminary. It was like when a
thought is there and continues to
be there and that never leaves.
Did anyone inspire your
vocation/faith journey?
Father Roberto Lopez was a
big piece of inspiration for my
vocational journey. He was the
pastor of my home parish from
when I was discerning the calling
to the priesthood. I have in my
mind very vividly his pastoral
work with the different apostolates
in the parish. He was the one, also,
who first encouraged me to pursue
the priestly vocation.
In the seminary, I have met a
number of good priests whose love
for Christ and his Church continue
to inspire my vocation.
What kind of priest do you
hope to be?
Well, “I hope to be a priest
after Jesus’ own heart.” During
the years in the seminary, I have
found inspiration for the kind of
priest that I want to be in a verse
from the Prophet Jeremiah: “I will
appoint over you shepherds after
my own heart, who will shepherd
you wisely and prudently.” (3:15)
nder a tocar la guitarra. Galván
recuerda, “Me acuerdo que incluso me compró una guitarra,
una café, para que practicara y
aprendiera.”
Así que sin conocimiento
musical, el regalo la inspiró a
aprender por ella misma. “Tuve
que aprender los acordes, me
tomo poco tiempo aprenderlos, y
aprendí a tocar de oído.”
Con miedo y ansiedad, y
persuadida por la Hermana Cortez, empezó a tocar con el coro.
Después de haber sobrepasado
el miedo inicial, Galván dijo que
se volvió más fácil. Ella recuerda
cómo practicaba en su casa y le
pedía opinión a su hijo Art sobre
el sonido de las notas que tocaba.
Su hijo ahora canta con el coro en
inglés de la iglesia.
Galván se quedó sola muchas veces cuando las personas
del coro se iban por distintas razones. Algunas veces, se llegó a
desanimar pero persistió y mantuvo vivo el coro reclutando nuevos miembros. Sally Martínez,
quien se unió al coro en español
en 1986, recuerda que tan dedicada era Galván al manejar el grupo. “Sin importar lo que estuviera
pasando, Mary Lou siempre se
las arreglaba para practicar y motivar la unión entre el grupo. Nos
mantuvimos unidos por ella.”
Galván es uno de los miembros originales del coro al igual
que Guadalupe Gutiérrez y Ninfa Holland. Galván se retiro de
ser maestra después de 43 años,
y ahora dedica más tiempo al
coro, el cual actualmente tiene
21 miembros y tres guitarristas
— Sally Martínez, Ricardo Nava
y Galván.
Sally Martínez dice, “El coro
nos ha permitido unirnos no
solamente en Misa, pero tam-
Here in the diocese there are
many wonderful priests from
whom I can learn a lot and who, I
know, will be willing to help me to
be the priest that God wants me to
be: ‘after his own heart.’
Deacon Andres Gutierrez
Date of Birth: Dec. 1, 1982
(Age 29)
Home Parish: St. Francis
Xavier Church, La Feria
Parents: Jaime G. Gutierrez
and Mary Lou Caraveo
Siblings: One sister, Debbie
(27) and one brother, Obie (21)
Seminary:
Mundelein
Seminary, Mundelein, Ill.
I received the call to the
priesthood during my senior year
at Texas A&M University. I was in
Eucharistic Adoration one day, and
I realized that I could be a priest and
give my life over to bringing people
to the Lord. After discerning for
about a year, I decided to apply to
be a seminarian for the diocese.
Several priests inspired my
vocation by their witness and
fidelity to their vocation, including
Msgr. Michael Sis from Austin and
Father Curt Lanzrath, OFM from
Brenham, Texas. My mother has
also been an inspiration of selfsacrificing love to me throughout
NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL 13
Inspección del uso
de redes sociales
se tornará un
deber educativo
Por CAROL ZIMMERMANN
Foto de cortesía
Mary Lou Galván comenzó un coro en español hace 40 años en la Iglesia Católica
Nuestra Señora Estrella del Mar en Puerto Isabel.
bién participar en cumpleaños,
eventos y celebraciones con los
que amamos.” “La incorporación
de nuestro armonicista, Melchor
Salinas también ha sido una bendición.”
El Padre James Erving de los
Misioneros Oblatos de María
Inmaculada, pastor de la Iglesia
Nuestra Señora Estrella del Mar,
dice que el coro en español, “Trae
gran confort a las familias cuando tocan en velorios, rosarios
y funerales, especialmente para
la familia de luto, ellos disfrutan
escuchándolos.
El coro canta en la Misa de las
8:00 a.m. los domingos. Ellos han
hecho el compromiso de servir a
Dios y la familia parroquial con
su ministerio de música.
my life.
hope to be?
I hope to be a faithful priest, a
humble priest. If I succeed in this,
with the Lord’s grace, people will
not see me so much as they will see
Christ working in me. That is my
hope.
One of the contributing factors
to my vocational discernment was
the example of our parish priest
who unreservedly spent himself in
meeting the sacramental needs of
the faithful. There have also been
other priestly examples, whom I
have been privileged to encounter
over the years, both in our diocese
and in other parts of the United
States.
hope to be?
I ask the Lord to make me a
good and holy priest who is able
to put the needs of God’s people
ahead of his own. Whenever I
reflect on the work of the priests
that have come before us, I can’t
help but pray that the Lord grants
me the graces necessary to follow
in their footsteps.
Priestly ministry is nothing
easy, and we cannot do it on our
own. First of all, we need the
Lord to strengthen us with his
grace. Secondly, we also need our
fellow priests to find support and
mentorship. I really look forward
to working with and learning from
my brother priests, whom I hold in
high regard.
—
For more questions and answers
from these future priests, please visit
the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville’s
website at www.cdob.org
Deacon Jesus Paredes
Date of Birth: July 18, 1985
(Age 27)
Home Parish: Sacred Heart
Church, Elsa
Parents: Enrique (†) and
Basilia Cantú (†)
Siblings:
Two
brothers,
Eduardo and Enrique
Seminary: Pontifical College
Josephinum, Columbus, Ohio
The call to the priesthood came
while finishing my high school
studies. I had thought about it, but
had not seriously engaged in any
formal discernment until other
people encouraged me to consider
the priesthood. Eventually, with
the help of my pastor, the vocations
director, and my spiritual director,
I responded to the Lord’s
invitation, “Come and See.” In
2004, I attended a vocational
retreat during Holy Week, turned
in my application in the summer,
and entered St. Joseph and St. Peter
Seminary that same fall.
BOSTON — Cuando el buen
nombre de un estudiante, instructor o escuela puede empañarse
con un video colocado en el sitio
conocido como YouTube o cualquier otro sitio particular o un
comunicado electrónico anónimo,
los educadores necesitan “estar más
vigilantes que nunca”.
Ese fue el consejo que se les
dio a cientos de participantes que
asistieron el 12 de abril a un taller,
durante la convención anual en
Boston de la Asociación Nacional
de Educación Católica.
Más de 10,000 educadores
asistieron a la convención que se
llevó a cabo del 11 al 13 de abril,
y en la que se tuvieron talleres con
enfoque al desarrollo profesional y
espiritual propio y de los alumnos
y los obstáculos a los que se enfrentan las escuelas católicas y las personas que trabajan en programas
de educación religiosa en el mundo
de hoy.
Durante la convención, en
varios talleres, se enfocó el tema
del uso de tecnología y el problema
de bravatas por medio del Internet.
La hermana Mary Angela Shaughnessy, perteneciente a las hermanas de la Caridad de Nazareth,
Kentucky, y directora ejecutiva del
Instituto de Educación de Derecho
en Louisville, Kentucky, les dijo a
los maestros y maestras y administradores/as de escuelas católicas
que no se pueden ignorar las actividades de los estudiantes llevados a
cabo mediante el uso del Internet.
Y dijo que con frecuencia se le
pregunta por parte de dirigentes
de escuelas: ¿”Que no podemos
decir simplemente que ese no es
problema nuestro” dado que sitios
como Facebook por ejemplo, no se
relacionan directamente con actividades normales de escuela?
Y la respuesta de la hermana es
un categórico: “No”.
Cuando los estudiantes difaman su escuela respectiva, a algún
maestro o maestra o a otro compañero o compañera por medio del
Internet, eso se convierte en asunto
que le concierne la escuela al que se
le debe dar respuesta, dijo la hermana.
“No pasen eso por alto. Encaren
el problema de bravatas aparecidas
en el Internet”, a lo que ella se refirió como asunto importante sobre
el cual recibe muchas preguntas.
La hermana Shaughnessy
definió las bravatas por el Internet como “daños hechos con todo
propósito y repetición utilizando
medios e instrumentos electrónicos
como computadoras, teléfonos celulares y otros más” causados por
menores de edad, debajo de los
18 años, que se podrían catalogar
como cargos de delito mayor para
adultos que los cometen.
Y también dijo que la premisa
básica de lo que tales estudiantes
hacen no es nada nuevo, sino que
simplemente están utilizando otros
medios.
Y así lo dijo: “Los bravucones
se han cambiado del patio de la escuela para el Internet”.
14
DIOCESE
Pentecost,
divine light of Pentecost still blazes
strongly through Confirmation,
the sacrament which pours out
and refines gifts of the Holy Spirit
we received at Baptism. During the
Liturgy of Confirmation, the bishop
extends his hands over the believers
gathered and prays:
“Send your Holy Spirit upon
them to be their helper and guide.
Give them the spirit of wisdom
and understanding, the spirit of
right judgment and courage, the
spirit of knowledge and reverence.
Fill them with the spirit of
wonder and awe in your presence.”
The bishop then anoints the
foreheads of confirmands with
chrism, saying, “Be sealed with the
gift of the Holy Spirit.” The seal
itself “marks our total belonging to
Christ, our enrollment in his service
forever, as well as the promise
of divine protection in the great
eschatological trial” (1296).
Christians have long recognized
Confirmation as the sacrament of
“maturity.” Today, many associate
“maturity” with an individual
also becoming an “adult” in the
Church. Sadly, though, such logic
has led some Catholics to forget,
or even worse, willingly reject
the sacramental gifts of Pentecost
bestowed at Confirmation. How
many young Christian “adults”
have stopped going to Mass after
Confirmation, arguing that as an
“adult” they can now make their
own decision? St. Thomas Aquinas
warned how “age of body does not
determine age of soul.” We do well
always to remember and heed such
saintly wisdom, and make sure our
children are mature not just in body
but in knowledge and practice of
the faith.
The sacrament of Confirmation
is our Pentecost, the moment
we are sealed with the seven
gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom,
understanding, counsel, fortitude,
knowledge, piety, and fear of the
Lord. Let these sacramental gifts
enter and dwell in the upper room
of our souls.
O
Black & White, or Gray?
ne widelyencountered idea
today is that there is
no black and white
when it comes to morality, only a
kind of “gray area.” This is often
taken to mean that we really can’t
know with certainty what is right
and wrong, allowing us to “push
into the gray” as we make certain
moral decisions that at first
glance appear to be immoral.
The behavior of the semilegendary figure of Robin Hood
is sometimes mentioned as
an example of this “gray area”
phenomenon, since he was a
character who would steal money
(morally bad) for the purposes of
helping the poor (morally good).
By focusing on the good
intentions motivating our choices,
and by arguing that morality is
ambiguous and mostly “gray”
anyway, a person can more
easily justify and provide cover
for morally problematic actions.
When we begin to scrutinize
the claim that morality is “gray,”
however, we encounter significant
problems and contradictions.
The romanticized exploits of
Robin Hood, for example, end up
providing little more than a “veil
of gray” that quickly dissolves
when we place ourselves in the
first-person situation of being
the victim of his thievery, having
our own windows broken and
our own goods plundered. Those
who have been robbed of their
possessions will often describe
afterwards, in vivid detail, the
awful awareness of personal
violation, the crushing of their
feeling of security, etc. In these
circumstances, we see the moral
problem with Robin Hood’s
depraved actions, and appreciate
the direct, black and white
character of the universal moral
injunction against stealing.
Universal moral prohibitions
are clearly at the heart of any
discussion about the “grayness”
of morality. Many human
actions, when freely chosen, will
»Making Sense
Out of Bioethics
Tadeusz
Pacholczyk
Priest of the
Diocese of Fall
River
always be unacceptable. These
actions, referred to as “intrinsic
evils,” are immoral regardless of
circumstance. Adultery would
be an example of an intrinsic
evil. Regardless of how much a
married man may desire to be
with a new romantic flame, and
regardless of how terrible his
current marriage and sex life
may appear to be, the decision
to have sexual relations with
someone who is not his spouse
will invariably constitute an act
of moral depravity on his part.
Every wife who has suffered
infidelity on the part of her
husband, and every child who
has seen the betrayal of their
mother by their father can attest
that there is no such thing as a
“gray zone” for adultery. Many
people who recognize that an
action may be black may still be
tempted to think that because
their intentions are white, the
“gray” action may be done. But
good intentions cannot bleach the
blackness of a deed.
Acknowledging the existence
of intrinsic evils and recognizing
the binding character of
absolute moral prohibitions is
an important part of our own
moral growth and awakening.
Indeed, morality itself, as an inner
determinant of man’s character,
is not fundamentally “gray” at
all, but is, by its very nature, a
code of black and white. In the
final analysis, the cult of moral
grayness is too easily a revolt
against fixed and essential moral
values.
Although fixed moral values
must always guide our decisions,
correctly applying a general moral
principle to a particular situation
will often require specific
knowledge of the circumstances
and details of that situation.
For example, I might have
to grapple with the question of
whether I have a moral duty to get
out of bed and go to work in the
morning. Whenever a particular
set of circumstances prevail (I
am healthy; today is a workday;
my employer expects me to be
present at the workplace; my
vehicle is functioning normally),
then I would reasonably conclude
that I have a moral duty to go
to work because of the objective
moral committments I have as a
company employee — and, likely,
the other employees who would
“take up the slack” would resent
my absence. Meanwhile, if I am
very sick, I might reasonably
conclude that I do not have a
moral duty to go to work. Of
course, deciding to stay in bed all
day out of mere laziness would
constitute an objective failure
in terms of my moral duty. The
question of my moral duty to go
to work, then, is not a “gray area”
at all, nor a matter of relative
morals, but rather a question of
careful discernment, weighing of
variables, seeking to do the good,
and so on.
In sum, the objective lines
of our moral obligation may
sometimes be difficult to discern,
and may even appear gray at first
glance, but when we sort out the
relevant details and seek to purify
our own motives, and become
willing to submit to the binding
character of absolute moral
prohibitions, that gray haze can
dissipate, enabling us to see the
real moral lines that were there
all along.
—
Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D. earned his
doctorate in neuroscience from Yale and
did post-doctoral work at Harvard. He is
a priest of the diocese of Fall River, MA,
and serves as the Director of Education at
The National Catholic Bioethics Center in
Philadelphia. See www.ncbcenter.org
Appointments,
Reverend Father George Gonzalez on your Priestly Anniversary Our Lady of the Assumption and San Felipe Neri Community of Faith I would like to thank God, Our Lady of the Assumption community I worship with and the people of the Rio Grande Valley for their support in my twenty‐five years as a priest. Being a native of Brownsville, I have seen how God has worked in the lives of others and in mine.
-Deacon Pedro F. Sanchez assigned in service to Saint Frances
Xavier Cabrini Parish in Pharr
Effective July 1, 2012
- Deacon Ronaldo M. Chavez,
Assistant to the State Chaplain for
the Knights of Columbus Texas
State Council in conjunction with
present assignment
Love,
God’s grace.
We are each called to be true
to the vocation God calls us to;
whether to the religious life, to the
vocation of marriage or to that of
the single life in service to others.
May the Lord continue to guide
each of us with His Holy Spirit so
that we may follow that vocation to
the glory and honor of His name.
Anniversaries,
5 Deacon Alvino Olvera
12 Deacon Roberto Cano
12 Deacon Agapito Cantu
12 Deacon Roberto Cantu
12 Deacon Julio Castilleja
12 Deacon Alberto X. Chapa
12 Deacon Augusto Chapa Jr.
12 Deacon Hugo De la Cruz
12 Deacon Jesus P. Galvan
12 Deacon Alejandro Gamboa
12 Deacon Francisco Garza
12 Deacon Jose G. Garza
12 Deacon Irineo Gonzalez Jr.
12 Deacon Roberto Ledesma
12 Deacon Gilberto Lopez
12 Deacon Ruben Lopez
12 Deacon Juan P. Navarro
12 Deacon Hector Perez
12 Deacon Peter Requeñez
12 Deacon Eduardo Reyna
12 Deacon Salvador Rojas
12 Deacon Manuel Sanchez
12 Deacon Carlos Treviño
12 Deacon Rene Villalon
12 Deacon Daniel Zamora
17 Deacon Jesus E. Aguayo
17 Deacon Benito Flores
17 Deacon Alvin H.
Gerbermann
17 Deacon Jose Guerra
17 Deacon Benito Saenz Jr.
17 Deacon Juan Francisco
Gonzalez
17 Deacon Israel Sagredo
17 Deacon Rodolfo C. Salinas.
17 Deacon Jose A. Solis
JUNE
» Birthdays
2 Rev. Michael Gnanaraj
3 Rev. Issac Erondu
8 Rev. Armando Escobedo-Retired
13 Rev. Felix Casarez
22 Rev. Albert Trevino
27 Rev. Fernando Gonzalez
28 Rev. Msgr. Pedro Briseno
29 Rev. Lee Dacosta
11 Deacon Ruben Lopez
23 Deacon Antonio M. Arteaga
» Anniversaries
3 Rev. Jose Villalon
4 Rev. Joaquin Zermeño
4 Rev. Manuel Alfredo Razo
5 Rev. Leo Francis Daniels
5 Rev. Msgr. Pat Doherty - Retired
6 Rev. Armando Escobedo-Retired
7 Rev. Eusebio Martinez
7 Rev. Felix Casarez
7 Rev. William Penderghest
8 Rev. Craig Carolan
8 Rev. Edouard Atangana
8 Rev. Jean Olivier M. Sambu
16 Rev. Lawrence J. Klein
16 Rev. Richard L. Lifrak
21 Rev. Eduardo Villa
22 Rev. Efiri Matthias Selembri
28 Rev. Msgr. Pedro Briseno
29 Rev. Fernando Gonzalez
30 Rev. Rigobert Poulang Mot
6 Deacon Guillermo G.
Castañeda Jr.
18 Deacon Gilberto Perez
27 Deacon Jesus Reyes
DIOCESE 15
»Media Resource Center
» Calendar of Events
Recommended by SISTER MAUREEN CROSBY, SSD
Coordinator of the Media Resource Center - Diocese of Brownsville
»From the Bookshelf
»Worth Watching
Coping with
Cliques
Christian
Family: Blest
by God
The Miracle
Maker: The
Story of Jesus
Format:VHS
Production: Lions Gate (2000)
Length:87 minutes
Format:DVD
Production: Oblate Media (2010)
Length:15 minutes
Length: 160 pages, paperback
Author: Susan Sprague
Publisher:Instant Help Books (2008)
The facts: An engaging and faithful
The facts:It seems that in many
families, every family member - parents
and children alike - is independent and
keeps their own schedule and there is
little or no room for family time. With
many Christian families falling apart,
this offers many great ways to bring
families back together.
The facts:Recommended by the
account of the Gospel story produced
in Claymation-like animation. When
explaining and teaching God’s Word to
children — and even teens and young
adults—filmslikethishelptransferthe
knowledge into long term memory.
school counselors of the diocese, this
helps girls navigate their way through
the tangled social webs of junior high
and high school. This workbook helps
girls deal with cliques, teasing, gossip,
snubbing and includes advice on how to
handle Internet bullying.
May
Imagining
Faith
with Kids:
Unearthing
Seeds of the
Gospel in
Children’s
Stories from
Peter Rabbit to
Harry Potter
3
YM Level I - (SJDMI)
3
Principals’ Meeting
(CatholicSchoolsOffice)
4-6 Catholic Engaged Encounter
(FamilyLifeOffice)
5
5 Convalidation Conference
(FamilyLifeOffice)
He pointed out, “Sometimes
we think it would be a lot easier if
God would just send a lightning
bolt from heaven to change everything. But it is good to remember
that God usually works in a different way.”
“God works in the world by
changing the hearts of his people.
In a certain way you are the lightning bolt that God sends into the
world,” he added.
“To celebrate the parish, to celebrate the building of the Church,
and to celebrate all the work that
goes on over a certain period of
time, is to celebrate that work has
gone on. God has changed things
for the better because St. Joseph is
here,” he said.
He asked the faithful to consider, “How many Baptisms? How
many Masses? How many marriages? How many times have people
come to this church looking for
God’s consolation and his strength
May 2
and have been given new courage
to go out to keep working to do
what is right and do what is good
in a world that sometimes discourages us from that?”
The history of the parish actually begins in 1930 when Father Jose
Rose, an Oblate of Mary Immaculate, who was pastor of Immaculate
Conception Cathedral at the time,
purchased six lots on St. Francis
Street to accommodate the growth
west of Brownsville.
However, 17 years passed before a church was added. In 1947,
Fort Brown’s Military Chapel was
purchased and relocated a year later to West St. Francis Street, where
it was named St. Joseph’s Church.
Leonel Rosales, a life-long parishioner of St. Joseph Church, who
prepared a history presentation for
the parish, recalled the challenge
of moving the chapel from Fort
Brown to St. Francis St. The streets
covering the three-mile-stretch
were only 30-feet wide and the chapel measured 38-feet. It took three
months to move the chapel.
The Most Rev. Mariano S. Gar-
Bishop Emeritus Raymundo J. Peña’s
Calendar
Episcopal Ordination of Bishop George Scheltz Houston
May 4
Communal Marriage Mass – Sacred Heart
Mercedes
May9
6:30p.m. Confirmations–St.Luke
May12
11:30a.m. Confirmations–OurLadyofMercy
Mercedes
May16
7p.m.
Confirmations–OurLadyofSorrows
McAllen
May17
7p.m.
Confirmations–ImmaculateConception
RioGrandeCity
May19
11:30a.m. Confirmations–St.Helen
May20
5p.m.
Confirmations–OurLadyofGuadalupe
Brownsville
May23
7p.m.
Confirmations–OurLadyofSorrows
McAllen
May27
12p.m.
Confirmations–OurLadyofAssumption
Harlingen
May 30
10:30 am Holy Communion Mass – St. Joseph Chapel
May31
6p.m.
Confirmations-ImmaculateHeartofMary
On going:
Mass at St. Joseph Chapel of Perpetual Adoration, 727 Bowie St., Alamo
8 a.m. & 4 p.m. Mass at St. Joseph
Chapel of Perpetual Adoration, 727
Bowie St., Alamo
Every Thursday 11:30 am – 6 p.m
Mass at UTPA
Every Sunday 7 pm. Mass at UTPA
Holy Hour will be held Weekly every
Thursday at 7 p.m., 727 Bowie St.,
Alamo
Brownsville
RioHondo
Alamo
Harlingen
1st: Vocations to the Consecrated
Life (active and contemplative) and
for the Sisters and Brothers in our
diocese and the success of their
mission
2nd: Vocations to the Permanent
Diaconate the deacons (permanent
and transitional) of the diocese and
their families
3rd : Vocation to Married Life: for
the welfare and sanctification of all
the families in the diocese and for
building up the Kingdom in our
domestic churches
4th: Vocations to the priesthood
and the priests of the diocese for the
success of their ministry
5th: Vocations to the Pro-Life
Intentions
YM Level I - (SJDMI)
Length:312 pages, paper back
Authors:Mary Margaret Keaton
Publisher: Pauline Media (2005)
7
The facts:Values, good and bad, are
13 Mother’s Day
presented in every movie and TV show
your child watches. This book teaches
children how to watch movies with a
criticaleye,helpingthemfindthepositive
messages in media and also poses the
question, “what wrong with this picture?”
10 YM Level I - (SJDMI)
15 Diocesan Council Meeting
16 Counselors’ Meeting
19-20 Retiro Pre-Matrimonal
St. Joseph,
Cinco de Mayo
(FamilyLifeOffice)
20 Ascension
riga, coadjutor to the Bishop of
Corpus Christi, blessed the church
on Sept. 22, 1948. Bishop Garriga
later established St. Joseph Church
as a parish on June 3, 1953.
The frame structure served the
parish for 14 years until 1962 when
a new church was built.
Father Patrick J. Casey, an Oblate of Mary Immaculate priest,
who served as the first pastor of St.
Joseph Church, launched a building
campaign in 1958 as the growing
community presented a need for a
larger church. Additional land was
purchased in 1961 for future expansion, which included a school,
parish hall, rectory and convent.
The new St. Joseph’s Church was
completed by February 1962.
Rosales said the parish has benefited from the pastors who have
served at the church over the years.
“We have gone through great pastors and assistant pastors, and each
one has made a contribution to our
parish.”
A Serra Club member, Rosales
said he is especially proud of the
number of vocations that the parish has produced. Father Alfonso
Guevara, pastor of St. Joseph the
Worker in McAllen and one of the
vicars general for the Diocese of
Brownsville, grew up in the community.
Father Guevara shared a num-
ber of fond memories of the parish. He not only received his first
Communion and made his first
confession at the original St. Joseph Church, but he was ordained
a priest in the new church on May
28, 1977 by Bishop John J. Fitzpatrick.
He remembers the original
church and the altar his father, who
was a carpenter, built for the new
church after Vatican II.
From 1966 to 1970 a catechetical center was built and the church
hall was remodeled. The community has continued to help with
renovations and upgrades in the
years that followed. The most recent renovations were completed in
2010 under the direction of Father
Jerry Frank, who was pastor at the
time.
Father Oscar O. Siordia, pastor
of St. Joseph Church, congratulated
the families who have been a part
of the parish community and its
growth over the years.
“It is a joy to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the church dedicated to St. Joseph in Brownsville.” It is
a blessing he said that the parish is
dedicated to St. Joseph who is a patron saint of the Universal Church.
The parish community is enriched,
he added, by imitating the virtues
of St. Joseph.
Ascension,
at least in a figurative way. Jesus,
however, will sit in this place of
honor forever, literally. The Ascension thus concludes with the heavenly enthronement of the new and
eternal Davidic king.
Also fundamental to contemplating the mystery of the Ascension is to recall that when Adam
sinned the Garden of Eden was
now closed. This represented the
fact that heaven was closed to all
humanity. No one in the history of
the world had entered heaven. Jesus, true God from true God, takes
on human nature and ascends into
heaven so that we now might have
access to the true Promised Land.
brutales. Me parece que el autor
sigue en la línea de sus otras obras,
investigando las expresiones del
heroísmo, y sus raíces, mientras
muestra la figura de un héroe
cansado. Este cansancio heroico
es tema contemporáneo en el sentido que nuestra cultura todavía
siente el impulso para grandes
sacrificios para el bien, pero falta
de confianza en las instituciones
que tradicionalmente inspiran los
sacrificios. Obviamente, disfruto
de estas series, de otro modo, ¿Por
qué estaría a punto de empezar su
sexto libro?
Recientemente empecé un
libro por John Grisham titulado
Calico Joe. John Grisham escribe
en su mayoría historias sobre
el drama de abogados en la
corte, pero ésta es una historia de
béisbol. Como muchas buenas
historias de beisbol, se trata principalmente sobre la vida. Hasta
ahora — en la pagina 70 — está
muy enganchador. Una vez que lo
termine les dejare saber mis impresiones. He leído muchos libros de
béisbol a través de los años.
Casi termino con Modern Social Imaginaries de Charles Taylor.
Es un libro finamente instructivo.
Cuando termine, tal vez hable más
sobre este libro, y otros por Charles
Taylor que también son importantes de conocer.
Más sobre este tipo de temas
mientras el tiempo lo permita. Por
lo pronto, ¡lean cuando puedan!
other words Yahweh is saying to
Solomon, sit at my right hand.
So, all of the Davidic kings sat
in this place of honor temporarily,
Libros,
Continúa de la pág.2
triunfo final de lo que es noble y
heroico. El cansado héroe sabe lo
que tiene que hacer, solamente que
no está seguro de por qué debería
hacerlo. Un sentido personal de
honor lo mueve, pero incluso ese
poderoso motivo parece estar
perdiendo eficacia. Situad en
tiempos remotos, los temas de los
libros son contemporáneos, si
tomas como preocupación cultural
contemporánea (como yo) la lucha
por vivir honorablemente en un
mundo en el que la gente piensa
que ya nada puede ser confiable.
Las historias tienen sus momentos
27 Pentecost Sunday
28 Memorial Day
(Diocese Closed)
June
3
Trinity Sunday
10 Corpus Christi
Sunday
7-9 Summer Study Days
(OfficeofCatechesis)
9-10 New Life Retreat
(FamilyLifeOffice)
14
Flag Day
14 Advisory Team Meeting
(OfficeofCatechesis)
15 Catholic Youth Conference
(Youth Ministry)
17 Father’s Day
23 CMD Course #1 - San
Antonio
24-30
Catholic Youth
Renovation Project
Please submit your schedule to be
published in The Valley Catholic by the
first Friday of each month by email at
[email protected] or fax: (956) 784-5082.
DIOCESE
16
Our Catholic Family
‘I’ll sing your praise’
Spanish choir at Our
Lady Star of the Sea
celebrates 40 years of
music ministry
By IRMA WOLCOTT
The Valley Catholic
P
ORT ISABEL – Alleluia!
The Lord is risen! We no
longer live in darkness,
but the light of Christ
shines upon us to show the way.
Let our voices celebrate the risen
Lord now and forever.
How can we show our gladness and joy that has pierced our
hearts as we traveled with Jesus
during Lent? Now that we are
no longer in darkness, our souls
thirst and yearn for God. Different people rejoice in his glory
in different ways and all look to
praise him in everything we do.
Such began the desire to praise
our Lord for Mary Lou Galvan
and her inspiration to begin a
Spanish choir at Our Lady Star of
the Sea Catholic Church in Port
Isabel. Galvan recalls with great
tenderness in her voice, her struggles and joys on how it all began
40 years ago.
The Spanish choir was formed
in 1972 with volunteers under
Sister Jennissen,
daughter was inside of the hospital
dying of AIDS. Sister Anita talked
to her in Swahili, gave her comfort
and prayed with her. … Sometimes,
nothing could be done medically,
but she brought the Gospel to them
and their families, brought the love
of Jesus to bring them that peace
and comfort of knowing that they or
their loved one would be with God.”
Life,
services such as pregnancy tests,
sonograms, counseling and baby
clothing and supplies in a nonjudgmental setting.
At the center, Estrada was
shown a video which tells the hard
truth about abortion.
Courtesy photo
Guadalupe Gutierez, Mary Lou Galvan and Ninfa Holland are the original members who started a Spanish choir at Our Lady Star
of the Sea Church in Port Isabel.
Spanish choir in 1986, recalls how
dedicated Galvan was in managing the group. “No matter what
she had on her plate, Mary Lou
always managed to get away to
practice and to encourage fellowship amongst the group. We
stayed close because of her.”
Galvan is one of the original
members of the choir along with
Guadalupe Gutierrez and Ninfa
Holland. Galvan retired from
teaching after 43 years, and now
devotes more time to the choir,
which currently has 21 members
and three guitarists — Sally Martinez, Ricardo Nava and Galvan.
Sally Martinez says, “The choir
has allowed us to join together not
only at Mass, but also to entertain
at birthdays, events and celebrations with those we love.” “The
addition of our harmonica player,
Melchor Salinas has been a blessing too.”
Father James Erving of the
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, pastor at Our Lady
Star of the Sea Church, says of
the Spanish choir, “It brings great
comfort to families when they
play at wakes, rosaries and funerals especially for the grieving family members, they enjoy listening
to them.”
The choir sings at the 8 a.m.
Mass on Sundays. They have
made a commitment to serve God
and the parish family with their
music ministry.
the guidance of Sister Guadalupe
Cortez who encouraged Galvan
to learn to play the guitar. Galvan recalls, “I remember she even
bought me a guitar, a brown one,
so I could practice and learn.”
So without any musical
knowledge, the gift inspired her
to master it on her own. “I had
to learn the chords, it took me a
small amount of time to learn,
and I learned to play by ear.”
With fear and anxiety and
with coaxing by Sister Cortez,
she started playing with the choir.
After overcoming the initial nervousness, it became easier Galvan said. She remembers how she
would practice at home and ask
her son Art for advice about the
sounds of the notes she played.
Her son now sings with the English choir at the church.
Galvan found herself alone
many times as people left the
choir for various reasons. At
times, she became discouraged
but persisted in keeping the choir
alive by recruiting new members.
Sally Martinez, who joined the
Today, Sister Jennissen, a
certified spiritual director, spends
much of her time helping others
develop a closer relationship with
the Lord and helping them discern
how the Holy Spirit is leading them.
She is also an active member
of the St. Vincent de Paul Society
at her parish, serves as a counselor
part-time at the McAllen Pregnancy
Center, which primarily serves
women in crisis pregnancy and also
provides pastoral care at Retama
Manor Nursing Home in McAllen.
The fourth of 14 children, Sister
Jennissen grew up on a dairy farm
outside of Sauk Centre, Minn.,
where she attended elementary
school a one-room schoolhouse.
It was in her catechism classes
that she first thought about pursuing
religious life.
“I was about 10 years old and the
Sisters gave us a booklet about the
saints,” Sister Jennissen said. “I used
to hole up in my room and read it,
thinking, ‘I want to be like that.’ …
I think religious education teachers
should spend a lot of time talking
about the saints. Kids have their role
models, movie stars, football players.
I had the saints.”
For high school, Sister Jennissen
attended a Franciscan boarding
school in Little Falls, Minn., about
50 miles from home, “which fostered
my vocation,” she said.
After entering the convent at
age 19, Sister Jennissen worked as
a nurse at Franciscan-sponsored
health care facilities for 10 years
and studied Spanish in Cuernavaca,
Mexico before embarking on that
first overseas mission to Peru.
Webber says she marvels at what
her sister has been able to accomplish
in her 60 years of religious life.
“Here is this woman, who
came from this small little town
in Minnesota, and she is making a
difference in the world, making a
difference all over the world, serving
people of different cultures,” Webber
said. “She has taught me that we can
all make a difference, whether we’re
from a small, little town or a big city.”
“The video showed bloody baby
parts, little hands and feet,” she
said. “Watching that video jolted
me back to reality. There was no
way I could do that to my baby, no
matter what.”
Estrada was fairly certain that
she would keep her baby but not
100 percent when she left the pregnancy center that day. She didn’t
call or come back to the center for
weeks so the staff was unsure of her
baby’s fate.
“We were very concerned,” said
Diamantina Barba, a counselor at
the McAllen Pregnancy Center.
“We prayed and prayed for her and
her baby. She was receiving a lot of
external pressure to abort her baby.
People were telling her that there
was no way that she would be able
to raise three small children but
we kept telling her that God has a
Divine Plan for this baby. He was
meant to be born.”
Barba said she and the staff
were ecstatic when Estrada walked
in, asking for a sonogram because
she had decided to keep her baby.
The pregnancy center gave Estrada
a playpen, baby clothes and a large
box of diapers in anticipation of
the birth of her baby – who they
learned was boy, thanks to the sonogram.
Estrada gave birth to a healthy,
eight-pound baby boy named Roel
on Nov. 28, 2011.
“He is a really happy baby,” Estrada said. “He is all smiles. I love
him so much — that’s my Chubbs.”
Estrada was dealt a difficult
hand in life yet she is a survivor.
Her father died of cancer in 2004
when she was just 13-years-old.
The following year, her mother received an 18-year prison sentence.
She remains incarcerated in a Minnesota detention center.
Estrada and her little brother
bounced around different relatives’
houses until she turned 16. That’s
when she dropped out of school
so that she could work full time to
support herself and her brother.
Estrada’s life has been hard but
she believes that having an abortion would have made her life even
harder.
Her eyes filled up with tears
with the mere thought that she
once considered aborting her precious baby boy. Even though she
gave her baby life, she is ashamed
about even thinking about abortion. She knows, however, that the
guilt would have been insurmountable had she had gone through with
the abortion.
“I think I would always wonder
about my baby,” she said. “How old
would he or she be? What would
they be like? What would they look
like?
As Mother’s Day approaches,
Estrada said she is reflecting on the
blessings of motherhood.
“People go around using the
word, “love” so casually ... I love
this shirt, I love this guy I just met
five minutes ago, I love this song,
but there is no love like the love a
mother has for her children. It is a
hard core love.”
To subscribe
Name __________________________________
Address _________________________________
City _____________ State ________Zip ________
E-mail address ____________________________
For more information call (956) 781-5323
To receive a copy at home each
month mail your payment with
your contact information to:
700 N. Virgen de San
Juan Blvd.
San Juan, TX 78589-3042
$15 per year /
$17 outside of Texas

View - Catholic Diocese of Brownsville

Transcription

Similar documents

Pedro Fernández began his international career when he was

Beerbaum Art International diversity

Fiesta de la Dedicación de la Basílica de Letrán 16 de noviembre de

May 8, 2016 - St. James Catholic Cathedral

St. Therese - communityofsttherese.org

Dedicado a todas las personas que creen en la musica

August 3, 2014 - Holy Family Catholic Church

January 17, 2016

October 18, 2015 - St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church

Principles First, Before Methods