Lamar Partin ordained Redemptorist priest

Transcription

Commentator
T H E
C A T H O L I C
S E R V I N G T H E D I O C E S E O F B A T O N R O U G E S I N C E 1 9 6 2 March 9, 2011 Vol. 49, No. 2
www.diobr.org/tcc
Lamar Partin ordained Redemptorist priest
By Barbara Chenevert
Staff Writer
Lamar Partin, a 44-year-old nurse
who likes to read mystery novels, was
ordained into the Redemptorist order
of the priesthood on Saturday, Feb. 26,
at St. Gerard Majella Catholic Church
in Baton Rouge.
“What a happy day for us as a church.
What a happy day to see that God takes
us as individual people and calls us into
service,” Bishop Robert W. Muench
said after the ordination.
Father Partin, who grew up in St.
Gerard Church Parish before moving
to Walker at the age of 10, said he was
drawn to the Redemptorist order because it “ministers to the most abandoned and poor. St. Alphonsus, who
founded us, left the city of Naples to
minister to the peasants on the countryside,” he said. “I have a great deal of
respect for the priests and brothers” in
this order, he added. “They are what I
grew up with,” he said.
Known among his fellow priests for
his energy and a work ethic he said
comes from his German roots, Father
Partin has been working mornings and
weekends as a deacon at St. Gerard and
the 3 to 11 p.m. shift in the psychiatric
ward at Our Lady of the Lake Regional
Medical Center for the past few years.
Father Partin said he loves nursing
and hopes to be able to continue to use
his nursing skills in the priesthood.
Father Partin said he grew up feeling he had a call to a priestly vocation.
He said he served as an altar server
as a teenager and got more and more
involved in the church. At the age of
12, the Oblate priests (who were serving at Immaculate Conception Church
in Denham Springs at the time) had
wanted him to go to their school in San
Antonio, but he said his mother said no.
Instead, he attended Walker High
School and then Southeastern Louisiana University. He worked for a food
service company for a while and moved
back into St. Gerard Church Parish.
“I developed a love of the church,
SEE ORDINATION PAGE 12
Bishop Robert W. Muench prays over Father Lamar Partin as he ordains him into the
Redemptorist order of the priesthood on Feb. 26. Serving with the bishop is Deacon
Todd Lloyd, foreground. Photo by Barbara Chenevert | The Catholic Commentator
Many events honoring St. Joseph, diocesan patron, on March 19
Staff Writer
Catholics throughout the Diocese of Baton Rouge
will observe the feast of St. Joseph, the patron of the
diocese, with special prayers, a food drive to benefit
the poor and the traditional St. Joseph Altars.
On the weekend of March 19 and 20, all churches are
being encouraged to pray to St. Joseph, asking him to
intercede on behalf of the diocese during this
jubilee year. A special prayer to St. Joseph
has been composed by the diocesan Office of Worship and distributed to the
churches. In addition, churches are
asked to include in their Prayers of
the Faithful during Mass an intercession asking God’s grace on the
diocese. Some churches will also
hold novenas to St. Joseph.
Church parishes are also asked to
hold a canned food drive that weekend to assist the Greater Baton Rouge
Food Bank in feeding the hungry.
“We would like to make a concerted effort as a diocese on this particular weekend to
highlight our commitment to those who are poor, in
the spirit of the jubilee year,” Father Than Vu, vicar
general of the diocese, said.
March 19, St. Joseph’s feast day, is one of the significant dates in the year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the diocese, which was launched in November with a prayer service at St. Joseph Cathedral.
Other celebrations are planned for July 22, to mark
the date the papal bull was issued designating the new
diocese, and Nov. 7, when representatives of the entire
diocese will gather for Mass at the River Center
in downtown Baton Rouge.
Catholic school children will also
take part in the celebration through
the “Give ’Em Fifty” program. Each
student is being asked to donate 50
coins – pennies, nickels, dimes or
quarters – to Catholic Charities,
the arm of the diocese that ministers to those in need.
Novenas to St. Joseph are
planned at St. Joseph Cathedral in
Baton Rouge from March 10-19, prior
to the weekday noon Mass and prior to
weekend Masses, and at St. Helena Church
in Amite at 6 p.m. March 4-12.
Numerous churches and some private residences
will host St. Joseph altars, special displays of breads
and other food items to honor St .Joseph. (See page 10
for a list of the altars.)
The special prayer written by the diocesan Office of
Worship to honor St. Joseph seeks the intercession of
Jesus’ foster father to guide our diocese and its faithful to Jesus Christ. It invokes the ears, eyes, hands,
feet, mind and heart of Joseph, who answered God’s
call to care for and protect Mary and Jesus even when
he did not understand.
“Your ears heard the voice of God calling you to
hope for what you could not understand. Your eyes
measured the plan of God revealed day by day in
your life story, and you trusted in divine providence.
… Your feet walked the path of righteousness and humility, a journeyman who became a servant to God,”
the prayer says.
“May we learn from your simple goodness all our
days so that we, too, might become a living sacrifice of
praise,” the prayer reads.
The Diocese of Baton Rouge was formed on July
20, 1961, by Blessed Pope John XXIII, and St. Joseph
church was designated as its cathedral.
According to Father Frank Uter, who has written a
history of the church in Baton Rouge, St. Joseph was
SEE PATRON PAGE 10
2
The Catholic Commentator
| did you know
| IN THIS ISSUE
A son’s passion for running is inspiring
his father to walk from Baton Rouge to
Houston to give the
young man courage as
he fights an unusual
form of cancer. Bill
Steele begins his trek at
the Catholic High School
Alumni Brother Eldon
run on March 12. PAGE 5.
praying the
stations of
the cross is a
traditional Lenten
observance for
many Catholics.
The devotion
dates back to the
very early days
of the Catholic
Church and
continues today in
all parts of the world. Page 7.
The third
edition of the
Roman Missal,
which will first be used on the first Sunday
of Advent, will have new translations for
the prayers recited at Mass. To prepare
for the changes that will occur, the Office
March 9, 2011
of Worship is conducting workshops
throughout the diocese. All Catholics are
invited to attend these workshops. PAGE 9.
constructing
Prayer on the Feast of St. Joseph
Patron of the Diocese of Baton Rouge
an altar of
Fiftieth Anniversary
food to honor O blessed St. Joseph,
Your ears heard the voice of God calling you to hope for
St. Joseph
what you could not understand.
Your eyes measured the plan of God revealed day by day
has been a
in your life story, and you trusted in divine providence.
Your hands worked in wood and fashioned new
in the image of the One who first created.
custom in this creations
Your feet walked the path of righteousness and humility,
who became a servant of God.
area for many a journeyman
Your mind sought to protect your Holy Family from the
dangers of doubt and persecution as you led them into the
generations.
future.
Your heart pondered the love for Mary, your spouse, and
Jesus, your foster son, as you witnessed God’s faithfulness.
In this year,
Blessed patron of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, guide us
to Jesus Christ.
the 50th
May we learn from your simple goodness all our days so
become a living sacrifice of praise.
anniversary of thatWewe tooask might
this grace through him who was entrusted to
your care, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
the Diocese of
Baton Rouge,
the traditional saint’s day altar is being
dedicated to St. Joseph as the patron saint
of this diocese. PAGE 10.
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Coming Events
20
Entertainment
16
Family Life
5
INTERNATIONAL/NATIONAL NEWS
4
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
19
Spirituality
7
Viewpoint
18
Youth
14
Ashes symbolize sorrow for sin
The ashes Catholics receive on their foreheads on
Ash Wednesday are produced by burning the palms
used during the previous
year’s Passion Sunday observance.
Although the practice of
wearing ashes as a sign of
repentance is steeped in
history, the burning of the
palms to make the ashes is
a relatively new practice,
originating in the 12th century. “It adds still another layer of meaning to this rite, and reminds us that we
are destined for the glory of Easter,”
states the 2011 “Sourcebook for Sundays,
Seasons and Weekdays.”
Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent,
is not a Holy Day of Obligation, although
services that day are among the most
widely attended of the church year. The
faithful receive blessed ashes on their
foreheads as the minister prays, “Remember man that you are dust and to
dust you shall return,” or “Turn away
from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”
The use of ashes symbolizing sorrow for sin can be
traced to before the time of
Christ. The Old Testament is
full of stories of people wearing ashes and sackcloth:
Mordecai, in the book of Esther, Job, Daniel and Jonah
all wore ashes. Even Jesus
refers to sackcloth and ashes
in Matthew’s Gospel.
In the early church, those
seeking to reconcile with the
church would wear penitential garments to church at the beginning of
Lent. They would be sprinkled with ashes
and then “expelled” from the church for
40 days until Holy Thursday, when they
would be readmitted to the sacraments.
In the Middle Ages, ashes were used in
rites for those about to die, a clear image
of mortality and repentance.
Today the use of ashes helps the faithful focus, not only on their sins, but on the
promises made at baptism, when Catholics die to old life and rise again in new life
with Christ. Ash Wednesday is the beginning of a journey to Easter joy.
| Pray for those who pray for us
Please pray for the priests, deacons and religious women and men in the Baton Rouge Diocese.
Mar. 13
Mar. 14
Mar. 15
Mar. 16
Mar. 17
Mar. 18
Mar. 19
Rev. William H. McCue SC
Dcn. Norman Christophe
Sr. Rita Lanie OSF
Rev. A. John McDonald
Dcn. Randall A. Clement
Sr. Joan Laplace CSJ
Rev. Paul A. McDuffie
Dcn. Samuel C. Collura
Br. Warren Laudumiey SC
Rev. Andrew J. Merrick
Dcn. Guy E. Decker
Br. Andrew Lawson CSsR
Rev. Victor G. Messina
Dcn. Benjamin J. Dunbar Jr.
Sr. Marie-Paul Le ICM
Rev. Michael A. Miceli
Dcn. W. Brent Duplessis
Br. Noel Lemmon SC
Rev. Cleo J. Milano
Dcn. Jeff R. Easley
Sr. Bert Lieux CSJ
Mar. 20
Mar. 21
Mar. 22
Mar. 23
Mar. 24
Mar. 25
Mar. 26
Rev. Michael J. Moroney
Dcn. Albert R. Ellis Jr.
Sr. Beth Lieux CSJ
Rev. Caye A. (Trey) Nelson III
Dcn. John Ellis
Sr. Lilian B. Lynch OSF
Rev. Hung Viet Nguyen ICM
Dcn. H. John Ferguson III
Sr. Vernola Lyons OSF
Rev. Nicholas J. (Jack) Nutter III
† Dcn. Warren D. Fortenberry
Sr. Phyllis Manda CSJ
Rev. John F. Osom MSP
Dcn. Robert E. Furlow Jr.
Sr. Joan Manuel CSJ
Rev. Louis T. Oubre
Dcn. Wallace L. Gainey Jr.
Sr. Ancilla Marie MC
Rev. Mansueto P. Palang
Dcn. Natale Garofalo
Sr. M. Vida Marija MC
Commentator
t h e
C a t h o l i c
Month
Bishop Robert W. Muench Publisher
Wanda L. Koch Advertising Manager
Father Than Vu Associate Publisher
Penny G. Saia Advertising Sales
Laura Deavers Exec. Ed./Gen. Mgr.
Lisa Disney Secretary/Circulation
Debbie Shelley Assistant Editor
Barbara Chenevert Staff Writer
Donna Perreault Copy Editor
The Catholic Commentator (ISSN 07460511; USPS 093-680)
Published bi-weekly (every other week) by the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge,1800 South Acadian Thruway, Baton Rouge, LA 70808; 225-387-0983 or 225-387-0561. Periodical Postage Paid at Baton Rouge, LA.
Copy must reach the above address by Wednesday for use in the next week’s paper. Subscription rate:
$12.00 per year. POSTMASTER, send address changes to The Catholic Commentator, P.O. Box 14746, Baton
Rouge, LA 70898-4746. Website: diobr.org/tcc.
March 9, 2011
3
Successful reconciliation program
“The Light Is ON for You” returns
By Laura Deavers
Editor
The successful reconciliation
program “The Light Is ON for
You,” conducted in the Diocese
of Baton Rouge last year during
Lent, will take place again this
Lent in many churches.
“The Light Is ON for You” allows those who want to receive
the sacrament of reconciliation
the opportunity of having several priests available at the churches participating in the program.
Those going to confession can
choose to confess their sins “face
to face,” talking directly to the
priest, or do so kneeling behind
a grill or screen.
Confessions will be heard from
6 to 7:30 p.m. on five Wednesdays during Lent: March 16, 23,
30, April 6 and 13.
Brochures will be available
in the churches to assist the
penitent in preparing to receive
the sacrament. The brochure
contains the questions people
should ask themself when examining their conscience and what
they should say when going to
confession.
Bishop Robert W. Muench
said in a letter to the people of
the Diocese of Baton Rouge that
everyone should take the opportunity to go to confession during
Lent, no matter how long it has
been since receiving God’s grace
through this sacrament.
“If you are worried about the
time it’s been since your last confession, you can simply say: ‘Forgive me, Father, it’s been quite a
while since my last confession,’ ”
Bishop Muench said. “The priest
will be supportive and happy
that you have come back to the
sacrament.”
The brochure also has the traditional Act of Contrition and a
private prayer the penitent can
say before going to confession.
Churches participating in “The Light Is ON for You”
for the five consecutive Wednesdays are:
Baton Rouge: Christ the King, corner of
Highland Road and Dalrymple Drive, on the
LSU campus, 225-344-8595
Our Lady of Mercy, 445 Marquette Ave.,
225-926-1883
St. Aloysius, 2025 Stuart Ave., 225-3436657
Sts. Anthony of Padua and Le Van Phung,
2305 Choctaw Dr., 225-357-4800
St. George, 7808 St. George Dr., 225-2932212
St. Thomas More, 11441 Goodwood Blvd.,
225-275-3940
Belle Rose: St. Jules, 7165 Highway 1,
225-473-8569
Denham Springs: Immaculate Conception, 865 Hatchell Lane, 225-665-5359
Donaldsonville: St. Catherine of Siena,
421 St. Patrick St., 225-473-8350
Gonzales: St. Mark, 42021 Highway 621,
225-647-8461
Hammond: Holy Ghost, 601 North Oak
St., 985-345-3360
Napoleonville: St. Benedict the Moor,
5479 Highway 1 at Bertrandville, 985-3697225
New Roads: St. Augustine, 809 New
Roads St., 225-638-7553
Paulina: St. Joseph, 2130 Rectory Street
at Highway 44, 225-869-5751
Pierre Part: St. Joseph the Worker, 3304
Highway 70 at Pierre Part Bay, 985-2526008
Plaquemine: St. John the Evangelist,
57810 Main St., 225-687-2402
Port Allen: Holy Family, 319 N. Jefferson
Ave., 225-383-1838
St. James: St. James, 6613 Highway 18,
225-265-4210
Vacherie: Our Lady of Peace, 13281
Highway 644, 225-265-3953
Confessions will also be heard
at these churches on
the following Wednesdays
March 16
Amite: St. Helena, 122 South First St.,
985-748-9057
Saint Francisville: Our Lady of Mt.
Carmel, 11485 Ferdinand St., 225-635-3630
March 23
Baton Rouge: St. Louis King of France,
2121 N. Sherwood Forest Dr., 225-275-7280
French Settlement: St. Joseph, 15710
Highway 16, 225-698-3110
March 30
Zachary: St. John the Baptist, 4727
McHugh Dr., 225-654-5778
Albany: St. Margaret, 30300 Catholic
Hall Rd., off Highway 43 South at I-12,
252-567-3573
April 6
Baton Rouge: Immaculate Conception,
1565 Curtis St., 225-775-7062
Ponchatoula: St. Joseph, 330 West Pine
St., 985-386-3749
April 13
Baker: St. Isidore, 5657 Thomas Rd.,
225-775-8850
Independence: Mater Dolorosa, 620
Third St., 985-878-9639
April 20
Baton Rouge: Christ the King
Our Lady of Mercy
St. Aloysius
St. George
St. Thomas More
Denham Springs: Immaculate Conception
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It’s Not too Early
for Build A Basket
When families are struggling to exist on
minimum-wage incomes, just paying the rent and
putting food on the table is difficult. Needy children
learn at an early age that there’s nothing in the budget
for extras. Things like Easter baskets are luxuries their
families simply cannot afford.
Last year, our Build a Basket campaign was a
tremendous success and reached so many
children in need. Look at the kids in these
pictures. They were uplifted by this faithful
act of sharing.
Join St. Vincent de Paul and Catholic
Community Radio WPYR 1380 AM in
providing Easter baskets for hundreds
of needy children. To find out how
you can help this year’s Build a Basket
effort, contact Lisa Hubble at (225)
383-7837, extension 204.
4
NATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL
March 9, 2011
Lenten sacrifice: Time to give up plastic bags or incandescent bulbs?
By Nancy Frazier O’Brien
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON — As Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, Dan
Misleh wants to remind Catholics that it is not just about giving
up chocolate or ice cream for 40
days.
Instead, the executive director of the Catholic Coalition on
Climate Change would like to
see Catholic families and individuals make some permanent
sacrificial changes that will also
contribute to a more sustainable
Mr. D’s
and more just world.
“The whole issue of climate
change is about consumption
and lifestyle,” said Misleh of the
changes the Washington-based
coalition would like to see implemented far beyond the Lenten period.
“Lent is the perfect time to examine our lifestyles,” he added.
Even giving up a food item like
chocolate or ice cream “reminds
us that we do need to live more
within our means, more in touch
with people who don’t have any of
these things,” Misleh said.
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The coalition – which includes
Catholic organizations representing the U.S. bishops, health
care providers, teachers, men
and women religious, and a wide
range of others – is promoting
the St. Francis Pledge to Care for
Creation and the Poor, through
which individuals, families and
institutions promise to pray and
learn about environmental issues, assess their own contributions to climate change, act to
change their choices and advocate Catholic principles and priorities on climate change.
Pope Benedict XVI – dubbed
the “green pope” for his support
of environmental initiatives at
the Vatican – has been critical of
what he sees as a lack of worldwide commitment to mitigating
climate change.
In a January 2010 address,
he told diplomats accredited to
the Vatican that he shared “the
growing concern caused by economic and political resistance to
combating the degradation of the
environment.”
But he also said that the devastation of the world’s forests, the
spread of its deserts and the pollution of its water cannot be reversed without moral education
and changed lifestyles.
As a next step in that educational process, 24 newly trained
“Catholic climate ambassadors”
will begin making presentations
to church parishes or schools this
spring, especially about “the need
for solidarity with the poor, who
are the ones most impacted by
climate change,” Misleh said.
Among the other resources
available to raise awareness
about the need for global solidarity are the Lent 4.5 faith-formation program, developed by the
Passionist Earth & Spirit Center
in Louisville, Ky., and Catholic
Relief Services’ Operation Rice
Bowl.
Lent 4.5, a seven-week program, gets its name from the fact
that if the world were divided
equally among all its residents,
each would receive 4.5 acres of
land from which to derive all of
his or her food, energy, clothing,
housing and “gadgets.”
“But it takes 22.3 acres to
maintain the average American
lifestyle,” the program’s website
notes. “There is a new way of observing Lent that helps us care
for God’s creation by taking steps
toward using only our fair share
of its resources. Moving in the
direction of 4.5 is essential for
anyone walking in the footsteps
of Jesus today.”
The program’s first week focuses on “Christian simplicity”
and offers these tips as a starting
point:
— Use cloth shopping bags instead of paper or plastic to reduce
the estimated 380 billion plastic
bags distributed in the United
States each year, according to the
Environmental Protection Agency.
— Replace incandescent light
bulbs with compact fluorescent
bulbs. The U.S. Department of Energy says that if each U.S. household replaced just one bulb, it
would save enough energy to light
3 million homes for a year and
prevent 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions each year.
— Give up disposable paper
products such as napkins and paper towels.
— Use a refillable mug instead
of disposable cups. One coffee
drinker using disposable cups
can generate 22 pounds of waste
in a year.
“Develop a sense of moderation and sharing,” the Lent 4.5
website advises. “Discover the joy
that comes from contentment,
sensing that you have enough.
And hold in your heart those
people who don’t have enough
– enough food, enough water,
enough of basic life necessities.”
Operation Rice Bowl, now
in its 36th year, allows even the
youngest family member to feel
a certain solidarity with the hungry of the world.
The program encourages families or parish groups to plan at
least one simple, meatless meal
each week and donate the money
saved to CRS, the U.S. bishops’
overseas relief and development
agency based in Baltimore.
Prayer and education also are
key components of Operation
Rice Bowl. CRS provides free
materials that include stories and
recipes from five featured countries – Haiti, Indonesia, Senegal, Honduras and Kenya – as
well as bulletin announcements,
homily suggestions, lesson plans
for grades one through 12, and
downloadable placemats and coloring pages.
“Lent asks us to break old
habits and form new ones,” says
a Lenten reflection prepared by
CRS for Ash Wednesday. “This
Lent, consider giving up eating
between meals. Replace it with a
fast that physically calls to mind
the deep desire of the poor to find
solutions to the root causes of
hunger and economic insecurity.
“And turn that restless energy,
which often drives us to the snack
cupboard, into action. Learn
about people in need throughout
the world and advocate for meaningful change on their behalf.”
March 9, 2011
family life
5
Steele walking to Houston to inspire son to battle cancer
By Debbie Shelley
Assistant Editor
Bill Steele is “ready” to compete in this
year’s Catholic High School Alumni Association’s Brother Eldon 5K Run and OneMile Walk/Run/Jog on Saturday, March
12, at Catholic High School. After he finishes the one-mile course, he will walk off
the track and keep going until he reaches
Houston.
Steele is making this trek, “Walk to Inspire,” to spur on his son William, a 1994
graduate of Catholic High School and
cross-country runner and multiple winner
of previous Brother Eldon races, to overcome a rare form of cancer.
In March 2005 Will Steele was diagnosed with desmoplastic round cell tumor. DRCT does not develop in any organ,
but attaches to the organs in the abdominal cavity. The tumors can double in size
every 28 days and shut the organs down.
There is no cure for the disease, which
appears to also be chemotherapy resistant. Will Steele was told he had about 18
months to live.
He and his wife, Kerri, have three children, Page, 7, Emma, 5, and Liam, 3.
Bill Steele has always encouraged his son
in his endeavors. Because Will Steele has
a passion for running, his father accompanied him on his runs. Bill Steele admitted he couldn’t keep up with his son. “Will
could run 100 miles a week. He was addict-
G
rowing up, I remember
my mom, as a newly
divorced woman, remarked Catholic widows had it
easier than Catholic divorcees.
Widows, she said, received support along the graveside.
But divorced folks? They suffer
from the shame of a broken
marriage, and from the stigma
from within Catholic circles.
As a community of faith that
celebrates the Eucharist together,
we are supposed to drop judgments and welcome the single
person. I’m not so sure that
happens today any more than it
did a generation ago when my
parents split.
Author and speaker Susan K.
Rowland has written a guide for
Catholics trying to heal from a
divorce. In her book, “Healing
After Divorce: Hope for Catholics,” she offers 14 tips on ways
those who are recovering from a
broken marriage can move on
and live faith-filled and satisfying lives. Here are five of them:
1. Lean on God. This isn’t just
limited to divorced people. Any
ed to running,” his father said. He evened
the odds by riding a bike.
After graduating from Catholic High
School, Will Steele attended Christian
Brothers University in Memphis, where
he also ran cross-country. His father motivated him at his meets, cooking a big pot of
jambalaya for everyone.
When Will Steele was first diagnosed,
the family was shocked. “We thought you
can’t seem to be that healthy and have advanced cancer,” Bill Steele said.
Cancer was something that Bill Steele
had not thought about, because none of
his loved ones had had it. “But when it hits
you, it hits you hard,” he said.
He is hitting back. Since last August he
had been thinking about how he could help
his son. Business and daily obligations interfered for a while. But he moved into action when his son told him that he will be
having a grueling surgery in which doctors
will attempt to remove all of the tumors in
his abdomen on March 31 at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, followed
by chemotherapy. He decided to walk to
Houston inspire his son and be there for
his surgery.
“I said, ‘I’m done. I’m done with the delays, I don’t care what happens after March
12, I’m walking out of town,’ ” Bill Steele
said.
His son’s response was, “Dad, you’re out
of your mind.” Bill Steele said since he is
unable to go through the surgery and che-
motherapy with his son, he wants to do
something that is difficult for him. Others
advised him against it, noting that he has
had open-heart surgery. As he trained, he
lost 60 pounds and is healthy. His cardiologist gave him the “go ahead” for the walk,
saying he could “live to be 125” if he continues living a healthy lifestyle.
Steele said he put everything aside
to prepare for this walk. He bought an
iPhone, which has a GPS, especially for the
walk as well as three pair of tennis shoes.
He also set up a special e-mail account,
[email protected], for people to email their comments.
Those who want to learn more about the
illness can visit caringbridge.org/visit/
walktoinspire, which may be updated with
information about Steele’s progress and
his thoughts during the walk.
If Will Steele’s blood count is high
enough, he and his family will likely fly into
Baton Rouge from Frisco, Texas to attend
the Brother Eldon race and see his father
off. Bill Steele plans to walk 19 miles a day,
for 18 days, following Hwy. 90 and arriving in Houston the day before his son’s surgery. Steele said friends of his son, family
members and others will accompany him
on parts of his journey.
Though there is beautiful scenery along
Hwy. 90, Steele said he is looking forward
to seeing “nothing,” but feeling the presence of God and nature.
Steele, a member of Our Lady of Mercy
Will Steele, left, and his father Bill Steele,
right, walk together during “Will’s Run,”
held in Frisco, Texas, Will Steele’s home, in
November. The race benefited Will Steele,
who has Desmoplastic Round Cell Tumor.
Sitting on Bill Steele’s shoulders is his
grandson, Liam Steele. Photo by Cynthia Steele
Church in Baton Rouge, said he and his son
have good spiritual conversations. Faith
has been an anchoring point when he encourages Will to fight his illness.
“He’s been told that there is no chance
of someone surviving this (cancer),” Bill
Steele said. “I told him, ‘Someone will do it
sooner, or later. Why can’t it be you?’ ”
Five steps to healing after a divorce
traumatic event forces us to cry
“Uncle!” and to put our trust in
God. When we lose control over
our finances, relationships or
health, we have fewer options –
and several distractions. Helplessness pushes us to tell God he
has our attention.
2. Take care of yourself. This
step is harder than it sounds. For
Rowland, this meant keeping
busy in her job as a newspaper
reporter and as a graduate
student. It meant following a
consistent exercise program, diet
regimen and pre-bedtime ritual
to ensure enough sleep.
For my mom, this step involved
taking a job to force her mind
onto something other than the
divorce.
3. Protect yourself. Most of us
are well-intentioned, but gossip
is so much more interesting than
conversations about the weather.
No wonder the more socially
inclined like to squeeze from
newly single folks any juicy bit on
their marital status or custody
battle to spice up the smalltalk.
Rowland’s psychologist helped
Rowland writes: “Take the
time to grieve. If you skip this
step, you will never fully recover,
never really heal and be able to
go on with life.”
5. Forgive. Rowland distinguishes between forgiveness and
pardon. “Forgiveness,” she
writes, “is an internal thing. It
takes place in the heart of the
forgiver. It is a refusal to hold
something against someone else
in the heart.” Pardon is less
sincere, and doesn’t have to
include forgiveness. It is external,
and can lead to resentment.
Borchard, former editor of U.S.
Catholic magazine and an
author of books of faith, lives
in Annapolis, Md. She gives a
young-adult perspective on
current issues and concerns
for Catholic News Service.
Our Turn
Therese Borchard
her to come up with a simple
statement that she could tell
people when they inquired about
her separation and divorce: “I
cannot stay in a/an (pick the
word) marriage.” And that’s all
you really have to say.
4. Grieve at your pace. I believe
the grief process for a broken
marriage is as complicated, long
and exhausting as when you lose
a loved one to cancer, heart
disease or in a car accident.
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E x c l u s i v e
I disagree with a column
you published some time
ago, about not writing out
our sins for confession. Among
other comments, you discouraged the practice and suggested it
could be a symptom of or lead to
scrupulosity.
A few years ago, I realized I had
an addiction and joined a 12-step
program to help me live my life
without the addiction. One of the
tools they suggest is writing out
my feelings and the things I have
done wrong. This brought me a
tremendous sense of freedom and
helped me get rid of a lot of
unhealthy guilt.
The fifth step of the program
involved sharing this information with someone
else. In my opinion, it would serve as a basis for a
really significant reception of the sacrament of
reconciliation.
I chose to do my fifth step with a layperson, but
still feel I could give it to a priest and ask forgiveness in the sacrament of penance.
At no time did I feel scrupulous, though I admit
it could be a problem with someone else. I just feel
strongly that writing is a great help in sorting out
my feelings, admitting wrongs and understanding
myself better. (Florida)
Father John Dietzen
A
You make a good point. While Alcoholics
Anonymous was the first to identify the “12
steps,” the process has proven effective in
other types of addictions as well.
The cautions that I proposed concerning
written confessions are generally valid. The
circumstances that you describe, however, could
be a legitimate and important exception.
I have often talked with individuals as they
worked their way through the fourth step (“to
make a searching and fearless moral inventory of
oneself”), and then assisted them through the
FATHER DIETZEN, a retired priest living in Illinois, answers questions from and about Catholics. Questions may be sent to Father Dietzen at Box 3315,
Peoria, IL 61612, or e-mail [email protected].
Daughter of Charity Dorothy Bachelot dies
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fifth step (“admit to God, to
ourselves and to another human
being the exact nature of our
wrongs”).
Sometimes this happened in the
context of the sacrament of
reconciliation. The occasion
became a powerful spiritual sacramental experience for both of us.
I know that some will protest
that this sacrament should not
become a personal psychological
assessment or a therapy session.
That is true. But neither is it
properly a purely clinical recitation of sinful actions and a prayer
of absolution.
The introduction to the Rite of
Penance, in fact, declares just the
opposite: “In order to fulfill his ministry properly
and faithfully, the confessor should understand
the disorder of souls and apply the appropriate
remedies to them. ...
“Discernment of spirits is a deep knowledge of
God’s action in the hearts of men; it is a gift of the
Spirit as well as the fruit of charity.”
In receiving the repentant sinner and leading
him to the light of the truth, a confessor “reveals
the heart of the Father and shows the image of
Christ the Good Shepherd” (No. 10).
The celebration of reconciliation is “always an
act in which the church proclaims its faith, gives
thanks to God for the freedom with which Christ
has made us free, and offers its life as a spiritual
sacrifice in praise of God’s glory” (No. 7).
All of this is another way of saying that, properly understood, the process of the fifth step may
provide a fitting occasion for the sacrament of
penance.
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Sister Dorothy was the last
member of her order to leave
the National Hansen’s Disease
Center in Carville when it closed
in 2006. She had worked at the
center with other members of
her religious order since 1983,
ministering to those who lived at
the center.
Sister Dorothy, who was 83 at
the time of her death, was born
in Crowley. After graduating
from St. Joseph High School in
New Orleans, she entered the
Daughters of Charity in St. Louis.
After graduating from St. Joseph
Hospital School of Nursing and
DePaul University, both in Chicago, she worked at St. Mary’s
Hospital in Evansville as the operating room/emergency room
supervisor for eight years.
The next eight years she
worked at several hospitals
in California
before being
assigned
to
St. Paul Medical Center for
Sister Dorothy home health
care
and
trained to be a rehabilitation
nurse. In 1972, she went to Charity Hospital in Lafayette where
she did home health care, infection control and employee health
in service.
Following a Mass of Resurrection March 5 in Evansville,
Sistery Dorothy was buried at St.
Joseph Cemetery in that city. Memorial donations may be made to
the Daughters of Charity, Marillac Provincialate, 4330 Olive St.,
St. Louis, MO 63108-2622.
March 9, 2011
SPIRITUALITY
7
Stations of the Cross, popular Lenten devotion, is rooted in history
Staff Writer
Tradition holds that the Blessed Mother
often visited the sites where Jesus suffered
his passion and death, perhaps a precursor
to the devotion many Catholics will pray
during Lent – the Stations of the Cross.
Known as the Via Crucis, the Via Dolorosa or the Way of the Cross, this popular
devotion has long attracted Catholics to
make a spiritual pilgrimage commemorating the places where Jesus spent his final
hours on Earth.
Many Catholics have a lifelong connection to the stations, said Father Miles
Walsh, pastor of Our Lady of Mercy
Church in Baton Rouge. They were exposed to them early in childhood when
they went with parents or grandparents or
during school.
The stations help us to meditate on the
rich images of the suffering servant in the
Old Testament, especially from Isaiah, and
on the passion of Christ by which we are
redeemed, Father Walsh said. “The whole
focus of Lent is the paschal mystery – the
passion, death and resurrection of Christ
– that culminates in the Triduum. The
stations are a way to be in touch with the
events we are going to remember in Holy
Week,” he said.
In addition, the stations “touch the moments of our lives when we are experiencing the cross. We can unite our suffering
A
to the suffering of Christ. The more we are
able to do that, the more we are sanctified,”
he said.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
states, “Christian prayer loves to follow the
way of the cross in the Savior’s steps. The
stations from the Praetorium to Golgotha
and the tomb trace the way of Jesus, who
by his holy cross redeemed the world.”
The origin of this devotion is generally
credited to the Franciscans in the 1300s.
But its roots apparently predate the Franciscans by centuries.
Whether Mary retraced her son’s steps
to Calvary is unknown, but scholars generally agree the practice can be traced to the
earliest Christians in the Holy Land. The
first written evidence of a Way of the Cross
was presented by St. Jerome (342-420),
who witnessed crowds of pilgrims visiting the holy places of Jerusalem, although
there were apparently no set prayers accompanying their journey. In the beginning the customary route of the Way of
the Cross actually began with Calvary and
ended at Pilate’s house, a reversal of how
the stations are prayed today.
In addition, many of the stops observed
in early days – the city gate, the house of
Simon the Pharisee, Pilate’s house – are
no longer considered part of the stations
prayed today. In fact the number of stations have varied over the years from 42 to
as few as five.
In the fifth century, about the time the
Turks closed access to the Holy Land, reproductions of the sacred sites cropped up
in about 30 locations to allow those unable
to travel to Jerusalem to make a spiritual
Way of the Cross. One such Way of the
Cross was constructed by St. Petronius,
Bishop of Bologna, who built a group of
chapels at the monastery of San Stefano
commemorating the Holy Land shrines.
Development of what is now called the
stations probably began in 1342, when the
Franciscans were named guardians of the
shrines of the Holy Land and started promoting devotions to the passion of Christ.
Franciscan Friar St. Leonard of Port Maurice is thought to have reversed the order
of the stations to begin at Pilate’s house
and end at Calvary.
In 1685 Pope Innocent XI granted the
Franciscans the exclusive right to build
stations and attached indulgences for
those making the stations or visiting the
Holy Land sites. However, by 1731 Pope
Clement XII opened construction of the
stations to non-Franciscan churches and
set the number of stations at 14, according
to the Catholic Education Resource Center’s website. Certain versions of the stations have added a 15th station, which is
the resurrection, Father Walsh said.
An Englishman named William Wey is
thought to be the first to use the term “stations” in a 1462 narrative describing pilgrims who followed the footsteps of Christ
to the cross. Although Wey named 14 sta-
The Twelfth Station of the Cross, Jesus
dies on the cross, at Our Lady of Mercy
Church in Baton Rouge. Photo by Debbie Shelley | The Catholic Commentator
tions, only five correspond to the stations
Catholic have today.
Apparently the 16th century saw the first
manuals of prayers that accompanied each
stop along the Way of the Cross. The present stations probably grew out of the use of
these devotional aides.
Albert Einstein’s objective thinking rebuts atheists’ claims
theists want us to prove
with empirical evidence
that God exists, though
they are unable to demonstrate
with scientific proof that God
does not exist.
This is a bit disingenuous of
them because no one can either
prove or disprove God’s existence
by scientific methods alone.
Most atheists put on the air of
intellectual superiority when
they scoff at the faith of believers. The fact that they believe in
a theory that cannot be proven
scientifically, that God does not
exist, disqualifies them from
judging others with objectivity.
Most scientists would agree
that Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
was the greatest genius who ever
lived. Since he believed in the
existence of a supreme intelligence behind the universe, it
makes one wonder why atheists
confidently deny God’s existence.
Here are some of my favorite
quotes from Einstein found in
Peggy Anderson’s “Great Quotes
From Great Leaders” (Naperville: Simple Truths).
Spirituality
For Today
Father John Catoir
1. “It is enough if one tries
merely to comprehend a little of
this mystery every day. Never
lose a holy curiosity.”
2. “When I examined myself,
and my methods of thought, I
came to the conclusion that the
gift of fantasy has meant more to
me than my talent for absorbing
positive knowledge.”
3. “The only real valuable
thing is intuition.” (We do not
need scientific verification to
prove there is a God, since we
know it by intuition: that is, we
know it in our bones.)
4. “There are only two ways to
live your life. One is as though
nothing is a miracle. The other is
as though everything is a miracle.”
5. “Imagination is more
important than knowledge.”
(Einstein’s intuition gave us his
theory of relativity, quantum
physics and the computer chip.
Knowing God exists is not
something we learn from
science; people of every age have
known it by instinct.)
6. “The intuitive mind is a
sacred gift. We have created a
society that honors the servant
and has forgotten the gift.”
(Einstein was praised for his
genius, but here we find him
saying God should be honored.)
7. “Truth is what stands the
test of experience.” (People
throughout history have
wondered what they do without
their faith in God.)
8. “The most important
human endeavor is the striving
for morality in our actions. ...
Only morality in our actions can
give beauty and dignity to life.”
Atheists usually ignore the
connection between conscience
and the human instinct to do
God’s will. Most of them do not
want to be burdened by religious obligation. In the Bible,
we see that the angels were
certain of God’s existence;
nevertheless, they rebelled by
saying that they would not
serve.
FATHER CATOIR, a canon lawyer,
is chaplain of Eva’s Village, a
poverty remediation program
in New Jersey. He writes about
issues of spirituality for today’s
Catholics for Catholic News
Service.
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8
March 9, 2011
Language sets tone, especially in text of new missal
By Monsignor Kenneth Hedrick
Director of the Office of Worship
Archdiocese of New Orleans
There has been a lot of talk in
recent weeks about the language
that is being used in political discourse. Words have been tagged
as “vitriolic,” as “harsh rhetoric,” as “uncivil.” There have
been calls for a more genteel
language, more civil language,
language that expresses and
conveys attitudes of respect and
compromise and supports our
loftier ideals.
Language is important. Sometimes situations and circumstances demand a different tone,
different qualities of language.
If we were to sit with President
Barack Obama at a picnic table,
we would be perfectly comfortable with colloquialisms, con-
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tractions and informal speech.
But as we listened to the president’s State of the Union message in January, we expected
more formal, elevated language
– words that were uplifting, perhaps at times even poetic.
On the First Sunday of Advent
of this year (Nov. 27), we will
welcome and implement the use
of the new English translation of
the Third Edition of the Roman
Missal, the book that contains all
of the prayers of the Mass.
Here are three basic questions:
Why do we have
a “third edition”?
In the time since the First Edition of the Roman Missal was
first used in 1970, initiating fully
the liturgical reforms mandated
by the bishops of the Second Vatican Council, a number of supplements have been published:
the two Eucharistic Prayers for
Reconciliation, the four Eucharistic Prayers for Various Needs
and Occasions, the collection of
Marian Masses, the Rite for the
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stance. Also, there have been a
number of new saints added to
the church’s universal calendar,
and there are many new prayers
for use as we celebrate those memorials. The Third Edition combines all of this into one book.
What’s different about
this edition?
The most important difference
is that the Roman Congregation
for Divine Worship changed the
rules that guided the translation
of this edition of the Missal. In
the last go-round, translators
were allowed more freedom with
the Latin texts, using a “sense
equivalency” in translating from
Latin to English. This time,
translators had to remain more
faithful to a literal translation of
the Latin words and to the Latin
construction of the prayers.
We also must remember that
a few years ago, we began the
implementation of the “General
Instruction” on this edition of
the Missal, and these two parts
of this one book go together in
intent.
The General Instruction – or
the guidelines for the preparation for and celebration of Mass
– called attention to some significant challenges. One was that
the Mass was to be given a more
dignified, “sacred” celebration,
with respect for the “ordered”
roles fulfilled in the course of the
celebration by clergy, lay minister, and assembly. When you add
to this a more formal use of language, there is an obvious intent
here to “elevate” the quality and
tone of our celebration of what
we call “the sacred mystery” in
the Mass: words and gestures
filled with dignity, beauty and
Spirit-filled grace.
What does this have
to do with me?
Most immediately, this will
obviously mean getting adjusted
to using some different wording
in the prayers you say as part of
the assembly. Of course, church
parishes that already use a hymnal or missalette will find these
changes in the books that will
replace the ones they use now.
It will also mean learning new
or at least revised musical settings for the parts of the Mass
we sing that have new words
in them: the Glory to God, the
Preface Acclamation (Holy, Holy
. . .) and the Memorial Acclamation. Many settings we currently
use have been modified by their
composers for the new wording,
but many musicians are saying
it might be better for us to learn
new settings to go along with the
new words.
But I believe this new edition
of the Missal will challenge us in
two other significant ways.
First, there will be a challenge for us to listen to these
prayers so that they really do
become our prayers. Sentence
construction in Latin is very different from sentence construction in conversational English.
The prayers the priest says (the
Opening Prayer, Prayer over
the Gifts, Communion Prayer
and especially the Eucharistic
Prayers) will sound different to
us at first. We will have to listen carefully in order that, over
time, these prayers will be able
to enter our hearts as well as our
ears so that we are praying with
the priest, who is speaking these
prayers for us.
Second, this is an occasion for
us to review our own attitude toward our public, communal worship, especially the Mass, to review and perhaps even improve
our understanding of, appreciation for and, in turn, our love for
the Mass. This is an occasion for
us to ask ourselves if we hold the
Mass in the high regard that it
deserves: by our attentiveness
to and participation in it, by how
we prepare for it, how we dress
to attend it, how much we open
our hearts to pray it.
Will everyone like what has
been done with this edition of
the Roman Missal? No. Probably
each of us will like some parts
and dislike others. But let’s not
focus on that. Instead, let each
of us take this as an occasion to
be open to the Holy Spirit to inform and inspire our openness
to change and development, to
deeper prayer, to greater respect
for our communal worship. Let
us be open to the Holy Spirit,
who is ready to guide our minds
to deeper reflection on the words
and gestures of our prayers, the
reflection that can enable us to
give of ourselves that we might
truly become “one body, one
spirit in Christ.”
MONSIGNOR HEDRICK is also pastor
of St. Angela Merici Church in
Metairie.
March 9, 2011
9
Workshops on new missal planned to prepare for Advent
Composers of new Mass
setting will give workshop
in Baton Rouge
By Laura Deavers
Editor
As the Catholic Church prepares for the
introduction of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal on the first Sunday of Advent,
the diocesan Office of Worship is conducting workshops throughout the diocese.
The four-hour workshops are designed
to prepare church leaders – staff members,
directors of religious education, school
principals, faith formation directors, catechists, Catholic school teachers, church
liturgical leaders, musicians, church parish council members, campus ministry
coordinators – as well as parishioners for
the upcoming changes in the Roman Missal that will take effect at the beginning of
the liturgical year on Nov. 27, 2011.
To provide ample opportunity for people
to attend, the workshops are being held in
many locations throughout the diocese, in
one-day or two-day sessions during the
day and in the evening.
There is no cost to attend, but registration is required so sufficient materials can
be prepared for participants. Registration
can be made at the diocesan website diobr.
org by clicking on the Roman Missal 3rd
Edition icon, or by calling 225-242-0120.
Workshop registration closes two days
prior to the event.
One of the workshops will be conducted by William Gokelman and David
Kauffman, whose composition “Mass of
Renewal” was chosen as the 2010 winner of the NPM competition for the best
new Mass setting. Their Mass of Renewal
composition will be used throughout the
United States. Every church parish in the
Baton Rouge Diocese has been asked to
learn this music prior to the first Sunday
of Advent.
This workshop, which will be on Thursday, March 24, from 7 to 9 p.m. at St.
Thomas More Church, 11441 Goodwood
Blvd., Baton Rouge, is intended for all
musicians, cantors and choir members.
For more information or to register contact the diocesan Office of Worship, 225242-0120.
The schedule for the Roman Missal
Translation Workshops:
March 14 and 15, 6 to 8:30 p.m. both
nights, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Church, 616 East Main St., Gramercy.
The workshop will be in the parish center. Father Tom Ranzino, director of the
diocesan Office of Worship, will give the
workshop.
March 22 and 23, 6 to 8:30 both nights,
Holy Family Church, 319 N. Jefferson
Ave., Port Allen.
The workshop will be in Holy Family
Church or across the street in the parish
Father Paul H. Colloton, who has a Doctor of Ministry in practical theology with a concentration in word and worship from Catholic
Theological Union, Chicago, sings one of the chants that will be used in the celebration of the Mass beginning in Advent. Father Colloton was in Baton Rouge March 2 to provide the priests of the Baton Rouge Diocese an opportunity to learn the chants of the Third
Edition of the Roman Missal. Photo by Laura Deavers | The Catholic Commentator
hall. Father Ranzino will give the workshop.
April 4 and 6, 5:30 to 8 p.m. each night,
St. Louis King of France Church, 2121 N.
Sherwood Forest Dr., Baton Rouge.
The workshop will be in the school gym
or a meeting room in the parish center,
depending on the number of people who
register. Signs will be posted. Father Paul
Counce, pastor of St. Joseph Cathedral,
will give the workshop.
April 7, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Catholic
Life Center, 1800 S. Acadian Thruway,
Baton Rouge.
The workshop will be in Room 206
of the Bishop Robert E. Tracy Center.
Charles Jumonville will give the workshop.
April 12 and 13, 3:30 to 6 p.m., St. Jules
Church, 7165 Highway 1, Belle Rose.
The workshop, which will be held in
St. Jules Church, will be given by Father
Counce.
May 4, 12:30 to 5 p.m., Catholic Life
Center, 1800 S. Acadian Thruway, Baton
Rouge.
The workshop will be in Room 206 of
the Bishop Robert E. Tracy Center. Father
Counce will give the workshop.
May 14, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., St. Albert
the Great Student Center, 409 West Dakota St., Hammond.
The workshop will be held in the student center, and Jumonville will make the
presentation.
May 16 and 17, 3:30 to 6 p.m., Catholic
Life Center, 1800 S. Acadian Thruway,
Baton Rouge.
The workshop, which will be in Room
206 of the Bishop Robert E. Tracy Center,
will be given by Father Ranzino.
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10
March 9, 2011
St. Joseph altars being held throughout diocese
March 13
St. Helena Church
Parish Hall
Second and Chestnut streets, Amite
12:30 p.m.; serving lunch
Donations accepted
Traditional St. Joseph Day meatless
spaghetti, sauce and veggies
985-748-9057
March 18
St. Joseph Cathedral
Main and North streets, Baton Rouge
Blessing of the St. Joseph altar noon
Free Lenten meal following Mass
Open to public; donations accepted
Proceeds will benefit St. Vincent de Paul
Henry Pulizzano 225-665-5359
March 19
Lola Mahler’s Home
29095 Hwy. 20, Vacherie
8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
225-265-8286 for more information
Jamie Mabile’s Home
12009 Graham Road, St. Francisville
12:30 p.m.
225-978-3159
St. Joseph Church
Hwy. 16, French Settlement
Blessing after 5:30 p.m. Mass
Traditional Sicilian meatless meal will be
served in the hall after the feeding of the
“Holy Family,” saints and angels
The Carpenter House
(St. Joseph Hospice)
10615 Jefferson Hwy., Baton Rouge
Blessing 10:30 a.m.
Serving begins at 11 a.m.
225-769-4810.
March 19 – 20
March 18 – 19
Immaculate Conception Church
Main and small halls
865 Hatchell Lane, Denham Springs
Blessing of St. Joseph altar Friday
after 7 p.m. Mass with light snacks
Saturday noon to 4 p.m.
St. John the Baptist Church
4727 McHugh Drive, Zachary
Viewing following 5 p.m. Mass
on Saturday
Blessing of the altar and the Lenten meal
will follow 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday
225-454-0293
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St. Margaret/St. Thomas churches
30300 Catholic Hall Road, Hammond
Located just south of I-12 Albany/Springfield exit, next to St. Margaret Church
Blessing of the altar Saturday, 4:30 p.m.
Public viewing Saturday 7 – 8:30 p.m.
Novena and rosary Sunday 11:15 a.m.
Saints served Sunday 11:45 a.m.
Public served at noon
St. John the Evangelist Church
Knights of Columbus Home
58715 Price St., Plaquemine
Blessing 4 p.m. Saturday
by Father Cleo J. Milano
Serving Sunday at noon
All are invited to attend
March 20
St. Ann Church
182 Church St., Morganza
Donations accepted
11 a.m. (distribution of food after Mass)
225-694-2218
March 21
St. Louis King of France School
Parish Activity Center
2311 N. Sherwood Forest Blvd.
Baton Rouge
11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. open to the public
11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. lunch served
Meatless spaghetti dinner with bread,
salad, vegetables
School office 225-273-3932
March 26 – 27
St. Joseph Church
255 N. 8th St., Ponchatoula
2 – 7 p.m. Saturday
10 a.m – 2 p.m. Sunday
Food donated to St. Vincent de Paul
Society
Fay Murray 985-386-8151
patron: St. Joseph church became cathedral for diocese
From page 1
city,” he said.
story, and you trusted in divine provi“In 1822 (November 7 – interesting how
dence. … Your feet walked the path of righ- close this is to the date of the establishteousness and humility, a journeyman who ment of the diocese) an account book was
became a servant to God,” the prayer says. begun, and at that time its title was ‘Livre
The Diocese of Baton Rouge was formed de La Corporation de L’Eglise Catholic de
on July 20, 1961, by Blessed Pope John St. Joseph,’ ” he said.
XXIII, and St. Joseph church in Baton
Father Uter also pointed out that there
Rouge was designated as its cathedral.
were no other churches between Natchez
According to Father Frank Uter, who and New Orleans that were named for St.
has written a history of the church in Ba- Joseph.
ton Rouge, St. Joseph was selected as the
There are six other churches named for
name of the downtown church in the early St. Joseph in the diocese: St. Joseph in
1800s, although there is no written word French Settlement; St. Joseph in Grosse
about why or how the name was chosen. Tete; St. Joseph Chapel on the Southern
In 1792, the church was named La Virgen University campus; St. Joseph in Paulina;
des los Dolores or Our Lady of Sorrows, Fa- St. Joseph the Worker in Pierre Part; and
ther Uter said. It was known by this name St. Joseph in Ponchatoula.
during the Spanish period. Though Baton Rouge
Prayer on the Feast of St. Joseph
went from Spanish conPatron of the Diocese of Baton Rouge
trol to the West Florida
Fiftieth Anniversary
Republic and finally the
United States, the Spanish priests remained, at
O blessed St. Joseph,
least Father Juan Brady
Your ears heard the voice of God calling you to hope for
did, until 1822. Before
what you could not understand.
he left in 1822, he reYour eyes measured the plan of God revealed day by day
turned to Spain all that
in
your
life story, and you trusted in divine providence.
the Spanish had given
Your
hands worked in wood and fashioned new
the parish. And he sold
creations
in
the image of the One who first created.
the church to the new
Your
feet
walked the path of righteousness and humility,
trustees. A new pastor, a
a
journeyman
who became a servant of God.
Father Desmoulins, was
Your
mind
sought to protect your Holy Family from the
named.
dangers
of
doubt
and persecution as you led them into the
Father Uter said he
future.
suspects the name
Your heart pondered the love for Mary, your spouse, and
changed to St. Joseph
Jesus,
your foster son, as you witnessed God’s faithfulness.
when Father Brady left
Blessed
patron of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, guide us
“New pastor, new counto
Jesus
Christ.
try, new language, new
May we learn from your simple goodness all our days so
name. Why the name
that
we too might become a living sacrifice of praise.
was changed would
We
ask this grace through him who was entrusted to
more than likely be the
your
care,
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
transition from a Spanish city to an American
March 9, 2011
11
Catholic group helping Americans navigate health reform law
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The
Catholic Health Association has
joined with a variety of medical
and consumer groups in promoting a new website that helps
Americans navigate through the
provisions of the new Patient
Protection and Affordable Care
Act.
“It is important for patients
and families to understand the
health care law and how it affects them,” said Sister Carol
Keehan, a Daughter of Charity
who is CHA president and CEO,
as the HealthCareandYou.org
website was unveiled March 1.
She said the website “helps explain it, and features stories of
Americans who are already benefiting from the law.”
Joining CHA in the coalition
promoting the website were
AARP, formerly known as the
American Association of Retired
People; American Academy of
Family Physicians; American
Cancer Society Cancer Action
Network; American College of
Physicians; American Medical
Association; American Nurses
Association; and National Community Pharmacists Association.
The website provides infor-
“Educating
consumers is one of
the most important
things we can do
to help bring highvalue, cost-conscious
health care to
Americans.”
Dr. J. Fred Ralston Jr.
President of the American College of
Physicians.
mation tailored to each user,
including what provisions of the
Affordable Care Act are in effect
now and those scheduled to take
effect in the future, as well as
adaptations and upgrades to the
Coming
March 23
The Dioces
e of
law made by each state.
It also features a time line for
provisions that extends until the
law takes full effect in 2014 and a
glossary of terms used in the legislation. The site will be continually updated to reflect changes in
federal and state laws.
The information on the website is tailored to consumers of
all ages and circumstances, including older Americans, smallbusiness owners and health care
professionals.
Dr. Cecil B. Wilson, president
of the AMA, called HealthCar
eandYou.org “a critical resource
for patients to quickly access
valuable information about the
health care law and how it affects them.”
“Educating consumers is one
of the most important things
we can do to help bring highvalue, cost-conscious health
care to Americans,” said Dr. J.
Fred Ralston Jr., president of the
American College of Physicians.
“HealthCareandYou.org can
be a trusted resource for our
physicians on the front lines of
Baton Roug
e and Outly
ing
Spiritual
Spiritual
retreatS
Retreat
Centers
Renewal
Reflec
tion
Prayer
Peace
A special section of
Watch for the Spiritual
Retreats special section in the
The Catholic Commentator. This section will list
retreat centers and serve as a guide for those seeking
places and programs during Lent and throughout the
year for spiritual renewal and continuing spiritual
education in the Catholic faith.
The deadline to be included is March 16.
For more information call 225-387-0983.
Commentator
t h e
C a t h o l i C
s e r v i n g t h e d i o c e s e o f b at o n r o u g e s i n c e 19 6 2
Areas
improving America’s health care
system to share with their patients,” Ralston said.
CHA and the U.S. Conference
of Catholic Bishops disagreed
on whether the health reform
bill passed in March 2010 would
adequately protect against the
possibility of federal funding
of abortion and guard the conscience rights of health care providers and institutions.
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12
Father Lamar Partin lies prostrate
(above) while, from left, Deacon Phil Bejeaux, Bishop Robert W. Muench, Deacon Todd Lloyd and the assembly prays
the traditional Litany of the Saints. At
left, Bishop Muench prays over Father
Partin. Elizabeth Partin, (right) celebrates the ordination with her son. Bishop Muench (below) anoints Father Partin
with chrism. Photos by Barbara Chenevert | The
Catholic Commentator
ORDINATION: Father Partin wants to be a good parish priest
FROM PAGE 1
“I developed a love of the church, wanting
to be of service to the church. I had a great
love of the liturgy and then a great love of
the Eucharist. I spent a lot of hours going to
St. Gerard after work and praying before the
Blessed Sacrament,” he said.
In 1992 he entered the Redemptorist order and found a vocation as a Redemptorist
brother, teaching and coordinating parish
schools of religion in Crowley and San Antonio. He took perpetual vows for the priesthood in 2000. However, he said he had a
“crisis of faith” that caused him to leave the
seminary and pursue a degree in nursing.
“Even though I was on leave, I stayed in close
contact” with the Redemptorists. Several
years later he returned to the seminary and
said he is now “at peace” with his decision to
become a priest.
In his homily, Bishop Muench said, “Today the God of Providence summons us here
in this revered House of God for something
extremely profound and extremely sacred.
For you, Lamar, God through the Church
confirms your call to the priesthood of Jesus
Christ and we – family, brother Redemptor-
ists, other clergy, religious, friends and wellwishers – exult in being actively present for
this holy action.”
“A priest should have the awe of a youth, the
wisdom of an elder, the contemplativeness of
a mystic, the undividedness of an angel, the
faith of Abraham, the trust of the Blessed
Mother, the loyalty of a disciple, the patience
of Job, the zeal of an apostle, the fearlessness of a martyr, the holiness of a saint and
the love of Jesus himself. Other than that,
he should just relax and take it easy,” Bishop
Muench told the assembly gathered for the
ordination.
“Always remember to depend more upon
God and the grace of God than on yourself
and your own ingenuity. Surrender yourself to your call – more precisely, to the one
who calls,” Bishop Muench told Father Partin. “Don’t expect to always understand or to
measure the results of your ministry in mere
human standards of success.”
Father Partin, the son of Frank and Elizabeth Partin of Walker, said he would continue
to work at St. Gerard until June, when he will
receive a new assignment. He said his goal is
to be a “good parish priest.”
March 9, 2011
March 9, 2011
A boy holds the Scriptures aloft in a procession during Sunday Mass at St. Joseph Church
in Mutunguru, Kenya. An outline of the 2012 general Synod of Bishops was issued at the
Vatican March 4. The synod will look at "new evangelization," proclaiming and living the
Gospel today. Photo by Nancy Wiechec | CNS
Church needs new ways to
evangelize, synod document says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Catholic
Church’s “new evangelization” effort is an
attempt not to present the Gospel again to
people who did not understand it the first
time, but to present the Gospel in a way
that makes sense and gives hope to modern men and women, said the general secretary of the Synod of Bishops.
At a Vatican news conference March
4, Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, the synod
official, presented the “lineamenta” or outline for the 2012 general Synod of Bishops.
The 65-page outline is a reflection on
various aspects of the theme “new evangelization” and includes dozens of questions
about current needs and practices; bishops’ conferences are supposed to answer
the questions by Nov. 1 so their responses
can be used as a basis for the synod’s working document.
The synod is scheduled to meet at the
Vatican Oct. 7-28, 2012; Pope Benedict
XVI chose the theme, which was announced just a few months after he established the Pontifical Council for Promoting
New Evangelization.
The synod outline defines “new evangelization” as “the courage to forge new paths
in responding to the changing circumstances and conditions facing the church
in her call to proclaim and live the Gospel
today.”
Archbishop Eterovic said the most immediate aim of new evangelization is to
help people who already are baptized, but
do not practice the faith, rediscover the joy
of believing and actively living their faith.
It also includes reminding them and all
Christians of the obligation of witnessing
the Gospel and proclaiming it to others.
“Christian witness must be both private
and public, embracing one’s thoughts and
actions, the way of life inside Christian
communities and their missionary outreach, their educational action, charitable
activities and their presence in contemporary society in order to communicate
the gift of Christian hope,” the archbishop
said.
The document said bringing people
back to Christ will be impossible unless
there are efforts to evangelize increasingly
secular cultures, to evangelize increasingly
diverse societies and to evangelize the media, the economy, politics, science and the
church itself.
Although it did not specifically mention
the sex abuse crisis, the document said
one fruit of evangelization “is the courage
to speak out against infidelity and scandal which arise in Christian communities
as a sign and consequence of moments of
fatigue and weariness in the work of proclamation.”
A true and lively faith gives individuals
and entire church communities the ability to recognize their faults and sins, seek
repentance and begin all over again, witnessing to the fact that conversion and salvation are possible in Christ, it said.
By calling for a “new evangelization,”
the church is not criticizing the way the
faith was initially transmitted, the document said, but rather it is recognizing that
it needs to find new ways of proclaiming
the Gospel that respond to the needs of
people who are living in modern societies
where anything involving God or faith is
considered naive or too private for polite
conversation.
13
14
YOUTH
March 9, 2011
SJA students win at
French Club convention
Forty-four St. Joseph’s Academy French students attended
the 31st annual Association Louisianaise des Clubs Français des
Ecoles Secondaires (ALCFES) or
State French Club Convention,
held Feb. 4-6 in Lafayette. This
year’s convention theme was “La
Révolution Louisianaise...La Bataille Continue.”
SJA students won several competitions, including the play competition for the sixth year in a
row. The winning actresses were
Catherine Hudson, Emily Barbin,
Ashlyn Haycook, Susan Fasano,
Mathilde Silverberg, Mackensie
Fagan, Jessica Dismukes, Ashley
Pham and Natalie Pham. Meredith Prochaska was in charge of
props for the play.
Fasano, who served as this
year’s state French Club treasurer, participated in the scholarship
competition, in which she took a
written test and was interviewed
by a panel of foreign judges.
She won a scholarship to study
French in Paris at the L’ École Suisse Internationale.
SJA placed first in the
French Club T-shirt design
competition. Hannah Knight
and Jenny Adair were the winning designers.
Students who placed third in
the banner competition, best
theme category were: Ali Parson, Megan St. Germain, Ashley
Pham, Natalie Pham and Hillary
Higginbotham.
In the video competition, SJA
placed third. Videographer was
Emily Barbin. The video starred
Sydney Blanchard, Catherine
Hudson and SJA’s French students.
Lindsey Juvenal placed fourth
in the culture quiz bee.
Convention participants enjoyed a French rally at Vermilionville, a Cajun village and cultural
center. Foreign dignitaries spoke
to the students about scholarships, immersion and job opportunities open to students who
have knowledge of the French
language.
Knight was elected as a regional representative, and Haycook
will serve as the state vice president next year.
Bishop Robert Muench and Chef John Folse
Count Your Blessings Recipe
Ingredients:
A Great Bishop, a World
Chef,
Faith,
Famous
Sacrifice,
Compassion,
Humility, Mercy, Time,
Generosity, Love, Grace,
Hope and
You - Our Most
SCOUT SUNDAY – On Feb. 3, 47 Cubs and Scouts and adult leaders attended a Scout Sunday Mass at
St. John the Evangelist Church in Prairieville. The Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus, who served as
honor guard, led the procession at Mass and hosted a reception for the participants in the church’s
community center. Photo provided by Cory Orgeron
ST. MICHAEL COAT DRIVE – During Catholic Schools Week, St. Michael High School students
were inspired after watching a documentary, “The Human Experience,” to sponsor a coat drive.
The drive, which had a Dr. Seuss-inspired theme, “One Coat, Two Coat, Old Coat, New Coat,” was
sponsored by the school’s student council, campus ministry and global awareness organizations.
English Instructor Jami Hayes’ homeroom class collected the most coats, 51. Participating in the
drive are, from left, Caleb Wilson, Jordan Chauvin, David Albano, Michael Naquin, Principal Myra
T. Patureau, Julia Lowe and Victoria Harrison. Photo provided by St. Michael High School
Want to Serve You and
Your Family at the
2011 Count Your
Blessings Supper
Friday, March 25, 2011
Program starts at 7:00 PM
Our Lady of Mercy
Parish Activity Center
Bishop Robert Muench and Chef John Folse are ready
to Stir it Up! Come and Count Your Blessings with us.
Join us for a simple Lenten supper of soup and bread – a
meal that will nourish you both physically and spiritually.
Important Ingredient!
---------------------------------------Clip and send in----------------------------------------
Yes, my family and I want to attend the Count Your
Blessings Supper. We would like __________ tickets at
$10.00 per person. We are enclosing a check for $_______.
Name: ____________________________________________
Address:___________________________________________
City: ____________________State: _________Zip: _________
Make checks payable and mail to: Society of St. Vincent de
Paul, P.O. Box 127, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0127. For more
info, call us at (225) 383-7837, extension O.
BUILDING ROBOTS – Seventh-grade students in Donna Kirkland’s computer class at St. John Middle
School built and programed robots. After following detailed instructions to build LEGO robots, the
students used special software to program the robots to perform specific tasks. Students used various sensors to complete the tasks. Pictured with their robots, are, from left, Courtney LoBue, Amanda Guidry, Kyndal Guillory, Chandler Hebert, Andrew Gulotta, Maddie Palermo, Jacob David, Matthew Williams, Garrett Booksh, Peyton Voisin, Colby Sadden, Evan Daigle, Devyn Allen, Jerry Uong,
Madison Schnebelen, Allie Wintz and Madison Robichaux. Photo provided by Donna Kirkland | St. John Middle School
March 9, 2011
YOUTH
LeBlanc leads peers into better life
Brennan LeBlanc, 17
Hometown: Livonia
School: Livonia High School
Church: St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
By Debbie Shelley
Assistant Editor
Brennan LeBlanc, 17, a member
of the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
Church in Livonia, believes great
leaders love people as they are,
serve their needs, and move them
to be involved in the community
and church family.
LeBlanc, a junior at Livonia
High School, guides confused and
overwhelmed freshmen in their
new school as a member of the
Mentor and Mentoree (M&M)
program.
He advises them and helps
them transition into high school
as he leads them in icebreakers,
team-building exercises and discussion sessions.
The underclassmen talk to him
about academic and peer pressure.
LeBlanc said, “A lot of the kids
(upperclassmen) don’t understand. They get irritated with
them (the freshmen), but don’t
know how lost they are. If they
did, they would be more understanding.”
LeBlanc has been working with
the school to revive the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Club.
“In public schools you really can’t
talk about religion. This is one
way to get around that,” he said.
Many Livonia High School students participated in last September’s “See You at the Pole,” a stu-
dent-led event in which students
meet at the flagpole before school
to pray for their school, friends,
teachers, government and nation.
Encouraged by the success of
the event, on Feb. 16 LeBlanc and
three other students led a similar
event, “Huddle at the Pole.” In
addition to praying at the flagpole, the students turned in written suggestions on what could be
done to improve the school environment. Most of the suggestions
involved being more courteous
and thoughtful to other students.
LeBlanc was one of two students from his high school who
was selected to participate in the
Pointe Coupée Young Leaders
Program. LeBlanc heard from
governing officials about leadership qualities and participated in
a mock legislative session at the
State Capitol. LeBlanc said the experience boosted his confidence
in public speaking.
As a board member of St.
Mary’s Youth Group in New
Roads, LeBlanc has participated
in projects that have connected
him to those in need. He said
his experiences have taught him
to treat others with respect and
to love his neighbor. “We talked
about love being an action and to
learn to see people as they really
are,” LeBlanc said.
He has volunteered with the St.
Mary’s Youth Group at the St. Vincent de Paul Society Dining Room
in Baton Rouge, speaking with the
poor and “getting to know them
and see them as people.”
He also had an eye-opening
experience working with students at the Magnolia School in
New Orleans, which provides
services and runs group homes
for children and adults with special needs. He gained a new perspective on life as he watched a
girl who had learned to write her
name, then inscribes it repeatedly
in a notebook. “You would have
thought she had written a novel,”
LeBlanc said.
He stated that many teens today become depressed over small
issues, such as not having an
iPhone, but the girl was happy to
just learn to write her name.
LeBlanc said he and his father,
Ron LeBlanc, participate with
their family in the American Cancer Society’s annual Relay for Life
fund raiser. The pair is helping
to revive the St. Frances Xavier
Cabrini Youth Group and have already helped organize an enthusiastic youth choir.
“We make noise,” LeBlanc said
with a laugh.
Evangelizing his peers and
guiding them into the church
community can be challenging,
LeBlanc said. But he is hopeful of
reaching many of them.
“You have to keep going. God
has a plan,” LeBlanc said.
MATH TOURNAMENT WINNERS – Redemptorist High School’s Mu Alpha Theta Club won first place
at the Jan. 19 Mu Alpha Theta Mathematics Tournament in Lafayette. The winners are, from left,
front row, Sharon Bernard and Raven Spooner; back row, Sadie Ogelsby, Jamal Baheth, Victoria
Joyce, Catharine Mercer, Victoria Mercer and Avery St. Dizier, who placed first in the calculus test.
Catharine Mercer placed fourth in the pre-calculus test. St. Dizier and Spooner placed third in the
calculus team test. Photo provided by Redemptorist High School
15
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MOVIE
REVIEWS
USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting
classifications:
A-I – General patronage
A-II – Adults and adolescents
A-III – Adults
A-IV – Adults, with reservations
L – Limited adult audience
O – Morally offensive
The Adjustment Bureau
(Universal)
Curious adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s
1954 short story “Adjustment Team” in
which the agents of a supernatural bureaucracy (principally Anthony Mackie,
John Slattery and Terence Stamp) intervene to break up the budding relationship
between a New York politician (Matt Damon) and a gifted dancer (Emily Blunt)
because it runs contrary to the predetermined plan of an unnamed higher power.
Writer-director George Nolfi’s feature debut pitting love against fate – or perhaps
against divine providence – will intrigue
some and strike others as an uneasy attempt to blend science fiction, romance
and philosophical speculation. Though
this is not a film for young people, the
ENTERTAINMENT
Motion Picture Association of America
ratings:
G – General audiences; all ages admitted
PG – Parental guidance suggested; some
material may not be suitable for children
PG-13 – Parents are strongly cautioned
to give special guidance for attendance
of children under 13; some material may
be inappropriate for young children
R – Restricted; under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian
NC-17 – No one under 17 admitted
metaphysical elements of the plot can be
interpreted by mature viewers in a way
that squares with Judeo-Christian faith.
Complex themes, brief nongraphic premarital sexual activity, a couple of uses of
profanity and rough terms, and considerable crude and crass language. A-III; PG13
The Grace Card
(Samuel Goldwyn)
Idealistic drama —
set in Memphis,
Tenn. — about the transformative relationship between a troubled, borderlineracist police officer (Michael Joiner) and
the black patrol partner (Michael Higgenbottom) with whom he finds himself unwillingly teamed. Haunted by the longago death of his toddler son, the white cop
March 9, 2011
is disconnected both from his loving wife
(Joy Moore) and from the deceased lad’s
younger brother (Rob Erikson), now an
adrift teen. Though repeatedly rebuffed,
his new cohort, a happily married parttime minister, is confident the solution
can be found in Gospel values. While not
especially subtle, director David Evans’
warm-hearted, unobjectionable message
movie – which also features Louis Gossett Jr. as the preacher’s inspirational
grandfather – winningly celebrates familial forgiveness and racial reconciliation.
Drug-use theme and brief action violence
with some blood. A-II; PG-13
Rango
(Paramount)
Sophisticated, comparatively edgy
animated riff on Westerns during which
a lonely chameleon (voiced by Johnny
Depp) stumbles upon a Mojave Desert
town where water and heroism are in
short supply. Reteaming with the star of
his “Pirates of the Caribbean” series, director Gore Verbinski oversees a visually
striking, quite literate movie whose darker, existential ambitions would befuddle
and bore kids, when not scaring them,
and whose passing, but ill-advised foray
into religious humor will jar on the sensibilities of many grownups. Some fairly
intense cartoon violence, brief irreverent
and frequent toilet humor, occasional innuendo and sexual references, an inaudible crude term and at least one instance
of crass language. A-III; PG
Drive Angry
(Summit)
Over-the-top, hyper-violent 3-D action
flick weaving a vendetta theme into a demonic road trip narrative. In director and
co-writer Patrick Lussier’s noisy story –
which manages to affront audiences on
every level – doomed soul Nicolas Cage
escapes from hell and travels through the
desolate American West on a mission to
rescue his infant granddaughter from being sacrificed by a Satanic cult. He’s accompanied by a potty-mouthed waitress
(Amber Heard), and trailed by an everso-polite fallen angel (William Fichtner).
Frivolous treatment of the supernatural,
intense, sometimes grotesque gun, knife
and sexual violence, graphic sexual encounters, full-frontal female nudity, pervasive rough, crude and crass language.
O; R
Big Momma: Like Father, Like Son
(Fox)
Warm but somewhat bland third
installment in the “Big Momma” franchise, with Martin Lawrence again in the
title role. Director John Whitesell and
screenwriter Matthew Fogel put Momma
through her paces as a housemother at an
Atlanta girls school while Lawrence’s real
persona, an FBI agent – with the help of
Brandon T. Jackson as his son – searches
for a flash drive that will convict a group
of mobsters. Some gun violence, fleeting
crude and crass language and a partial
rear view of a body suit. A-III; PG-13
Hall Pass
(Warner Bros.)
Directors and co-writers Peter and
Bobby Farrelly take a low-road journey
through contemporary marital mores
as two sex-obsessed suburban husbands
(Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis) are
given permission by their exasperated
mates (Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate) to ignore their wedding vows for
a week. Though the primary joke in the
brothers’ script (penned in collaboration with Pete Jones and Kevin Barnett)
concerns how little productive use the
would-be studs make of their supposed
freedom – an arrangement referred to by
the slang phrase of the title – at least two
instances of flat-out infidelity are treated
as minor, if regrettable, indiscretions.
A juvenile view of human sexuality also
prevails throughout. The relentlessly vulgar bedroom banter is interspersed, on
occasion, by repellent sight gags. Strong
sexual content including adultery, a homosexual rape, masturbation, full nudity
and pervasive coarse dialogue, drug use,
graphic scatological humor, much rough
and crude language. O; R
Of Gods and Men
(Sony Classics)
Brilliant dramatization of real events,
recounting the fate of a small community of French Trappists (led by Lambert
Wilson and including Michael Lonsdale)
living in Algeria during that nation’s civil
war in the 1990s. Targeted by violent
Muslim extremists, the monks must decide whether to continue their medical
and social work for the local population
or abandon them by fleeing to safety. Using the tools of the monastic life itself,
director Xavier Beauvois finds a path to
the heart of the Gospel through simplicity, a compassionate sense of brotherhood
and an atmosphere of prayer enriched by
sacred music and potent silence. The result, a profound meditation on the cost of
discipleship, is a viewing experience from
which every adult as well as many mature teens can expect to profit. In French.
Subtitles. Brief gory violence, some unsettling images and a single instance each of
rough and crass language. A-III; PG-13
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March 9, 2011
ENTERTAINMENT
Keeping a perspective on what
matters most in life
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Well, hello world; How you been? Good to
see you, my old friend; Sometimes I feel as
cold as steel; Broken like I’m never gonna
heal; I see a light, a little grace, a faith unfurl;
Well, hello world
Well, hello world; How you been? Good to see
you, my old friend; Sometimes I feel cold as
steel; Broken like I’m never gonna heal; I see
a light, a little hope in a little girl; Well, hello
world
Sometimes I forget what living’s for; And I
hear my life through my front door; And I’ll be
there, oh, I’m home again
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Oh the empty disappears; I remember why I’m
here; To surrender and believe; I fall down on
my knees; Oh, hello world, hello world, hello
world
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whatever we can do that
responds to the needs of others.
If you follow these columns,
you know that I frequently
suggest that caring about others
should begin with those in our
homes. Teens can do so much
good for their families. For
example, they can be sure to be
generous with both gratitude
and support for their parents.
While no parent is perfect,
most try their best to help their
children improve and enjoy
their lives. As such, their efforts
shouldn’t be taken for granted.
“Thank you” should be said to
them often.
Many times I also offer
suggestions for what teens can
do in their schools. But now I
am going to go beyond schools
to the wider community.
In working with teens in my
parish, I attempt to get them
Martin is an Indiana pastoral
counselor who reviews current
music for Catholic News Service. Write to him at: chmar
[email protected] or at 7125
West Country Road 200 South,
Rockport, IN 47635.
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Charlie Martin
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On The Record
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hooked up with younger
children. Teens can be valuable
tutors in grade schools, become
assistants in parish religious
education classes or act as
enthusiastic coaches for athletics. I have also witnessed how
helpful teens can be for grade
school drama productions.
Reaching out in such ways
means taking the initiative to let
adults know that you want to
help.
I’d urge teens to first think
about what they’ve been
involved in and really enjoy. It is
very likely that they will have
much to offer younger students
in similar activities by assisting
the adults who are supervising
the younger students.
We all know how demanding
life can be. As such, we are going
to need daily contact with God.
This means taking time to pray,
setting the alarm clock some
minutes earlier than usual.
If mornings seem impossible
enough, teens should speak
their hearts to God before going
to bed at night, seeking guidance for keeping a perspective
that values responding to the
needs of others. Doing so will
not only help others but add to
our own happiness.
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I see my wife, little boy, little girl; Hello world;
Hello world
Sung by Lady Antebellum | Copyright © 2010 by Capitol
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Traffic crawls; Cell phone calls; Talk radio
screams at me; Through my tinted window
I see a little girl, rust red minivan; She’s got
chocolate on her face, got little hands; And she
waves at me, yeah, she smiles at me
he quality writing and the
sound of Lady Antebellum have won me over.
The trio’s latest release, “Hello
World,” is off their very successful 2010 disc “Need You
Now.” The song invites us to
consider what really counts in
our lives.
The song’s character is trying
to navigate through lots of
traffic when he looks over and
sees “a little girl” in a “rust red
minivan.” He notices that “She’s
got chocolate on her face, got
little hands.” The child waves at
him, then smiles. It’s like she is
saying to him, “Well, hello
world, how you been?”
The incident helps him to
realize that sometimes he has
forgotten “what living’s for.”
Don’t we all! We get caught up
in the responsibilities of daily
life and surprises that detour
our plans.
God, however, has a way of
inviting us to keep a broad
outlook on what it means to
experience the gift of life. Sure,
we need to focus on doing
“today’s good” or handling
“today’s problem.” Yet we also
need values and perspective to
guide our thinking about what is
important for living.
As Christians, we look to
Jesus’ vision and actions to
recognize what counts. Jesus’
life teaches us that it is not just
by focusing on personal needs
that we do the most good or
achieve the most happiness. Our
“larger perspective” starts with
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Hello World
Every day I drive by a little white church; It’s
got these little white crosses like angels in the
yard; Maybe I should stop on in, say a prayer;
Maybe talk to God like he is there; Oh, I know
he’s there, yeah, I know he’s there
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www.wordgamesforcatholics.com
ACROSS
2 Ark builder
1 St. ___ du Beaupre
3 Launch grp.
5 The Diocese of Boise is here 4 Biblical garden
10 Public walk
5 One of the prophets
14Prod
6Deluded
15 Ancient region in Mesopota7 Sound equipment
mia
8Pronoun
16 Drooling dog of comics
9 Extended musical composi17Relaxation
tion
18 Determining worth
10 25A was revealed to him
20Shacks
11 Something to stop on?
22 Short essays
12 Fabric woven from flax yarns
23 Did possess
13Limbs
24 Make less tight
19 “Breakfast Anytime” site
25 Name of God
21 “…the Lord is with ____.”
29Twist
24 Non-ordained members of
30 Chicago airport
the Church
31 Unlucky in Rome?
25 “…for my ____ is easy and
32 The apostles were put here
my burden light. (Mt 11:30)
for preaching about Jesus
26 Evil king of Israel
36 Green vegetable
27 Angel’s hat?
37 Slow, musically
28 Small songbird
38 Edison’s middle name
29 ___ of change
39Black
31 City in Ohio
40 Annual race, familiarly
32 She killed Sisera in the Book
41 Staff again
of Judges
42 Parisian friends
33 Soprano Gluck
43 Homeland of John Paul II
34 “Terrible” ruler of Russia
44 Eye membrane
35 Holy ____
47 OT book
37 Humorous poem
48Autobiography
41 “On the third day he ____
49Convenience
again”
54Noble-minded
42 West Indian tree
56 St. Francis Xavier was a mis- 43 12th sign of the zodiac
sionary here
44 Temple tree
57 Falls behind
45 Alpha and ____
58 Perfume the altar
46 Heat excessively
59 “You are the ____ of the
47 Narrowest part of the torso
earth” (Mt 5:13)
48Temperate
60 Mild oath
49 Sicilian volcano
61 English poet
50Liturgy
62 Goes to court
51 Biblical twin
DOWN
52 10D floated down this river
1 “…all ____ to come shall call 53 Makes lace
me blessed.” (Magnificat)
55 Jurisdiction of a bishop
Solution on page 20
Terry W. Bennett, E.A.
Bennett’s Bookkeeping, Inc.
• Income Taxes
• Monthly Bookkeeping
• Payroll Preparation
3752 North Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70806
Ph. 225-343-4715, FAX 225-343-4726
[email protected]
18
I
VIEWPOINT
Following Jesus – according to the letter or the spirit?
work and move within church circles
and find that most of the people I meet
there are honest, committed and for
the most part radiate their faith positively.
Most churchgoers aren’t hypocrites. What
I do find disturbing within church circles,
though, is that too many of us can be bitter, angry, mean-spirited and judgmental,
especially in terms of the very values that
we hold most dear.
It was Henri Nouwen who first highlighted this, commenting with sadness
that many of the really angry, bitter and
ideologically driven people he knew he
had met inside of church circles and
places of ministry. Within church circles,
it sometimes seems, everyone is angry
about something. Moreover, within
church circles, it is all too easy to rationalize our anger in the name of prophecy, as a
healthy passion for truth and morals.
The logic works this way: Because I am
sincerely concerned about an important
moral, ecclesial or justice issue, I can
excuse a certain amount of neurosis,
anger, elitism and negative judgment,
because I can rationalize that my cause,
dogmatic or moral, is so important that it
justifies my mean spirit: I need to be this
angry and harsh because this is such an
important truth!
And so we justify our anger by giving it
a prophetic cloak, believing that we are
warriors for God, truth and morals when,
in fact, we are mostly just struggling with
our own wounds, insecurities and fears.
A
March 9, 2011
Wall Street Journal
headline in early February announced, “Delta
Sends Its 11,000 Agents to
Charm School.” The subhead
read: “Airline Ranked Last
Among Major Carriers in
Customer Service, So Training
Targets Problem-Solving and
Personal Skills.”
What if Delta were a diocese?
I found myself asking as I read
that article. I’ve been thinking a
lot lately about the drop-off in
attendance at Sunday Masses in
many parts of the country, and
the drift of Catholics away from
the church.
I’ve been hearing horror
stories from former Catholics
about bad treatment received at
the hands of church professionals. Not that those who have left
are without blame. But reports
of inept “customer relations”
coming from so many who have
had a bad experience with their
priests and parish staff members, have convinced me that
the church, like Delta Air Lines,
Hence we often look at
others, even whole
churches made up of
sincere persons trying to
live the Gospel, and
instead of seeing brothers
and sisters struggling, like
us, to follow Jesus, we see
“people in error,” “dangerous relativists,” “new age
pagans,” “religious flakes,”
and in our more generous
moments, “poor misguided souls.” But never do
we look at what this kind
of judgment is saying
about us, about our own
health of soul and our
own following of Jesus.
Don’t get me wrong: Truth is not
relative, moral issues are important, and
right truth and proper morals, like
kingdoms under perpetual siege, need to
be defended. Not all moral judgments are
created equal, neither are all churches.
But the truth of that doesn’t trump
everything else or give us an excuse to
rationalize our anger. We must defend
truth, defend those who cannot defend
themselves, and be solid in the traditions
of our own churches. But right truth and
right morals don’t necessarily make us
disciples of Jesus. What does?
What makes us genuine disciples of
Jesus is living inside his Spirit, the Holy
Spirit, and this is not something abstract
and vague. If one were
searching for a single
formula to determine who
is Christian and who isn’t,
one might look at the
Epistle to the Galatians,
Chapter 5. In it, St. Paul
tells us that we can live
according to either the
spirit of the flesh or the
Holy Spirit.
We live according to the
spirit of the flesh when we
live in anger, bitterness,
judgment of our neighbor,
factionalism and nonforgiveness. When these
things characterize our
lives, we shouldn’t delude
ourselves and think that we are living
inside of the Holy Spirit.
Conversely, we live inside of the Holy
Spirit when our lives are characterized by
charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness,
longsuffering, constancy, faith, gentleness
and chastity. If these do not characterize
our lives, we should not nurse the illusion
that we are inside of God’s Spirit, irrespective of our passion for truth, dogma or
justice.
This may be a cruel thing to say, and
perhaps more cruel not to say, but I
sometimes see more charity, joy, peace,
patience, goodness and gentleness among
persons who are Unitarian, New Age or
Baha’i (and are often judged by other
In Exile
Father Ron Rolheiser
churches as being wishy-washy and as not
standing for anything) than I see among
those of us who do stand up so strongly
for certain ecclesial and moral issues but
are often mean-spirited and bitter inside
of our convictions. Given the choice of
whom I’d like as a neighbor or, more
deeply, the choice of whom I want to
spend eternity with, I am sometimes
pretty conflicted about the choice: Who is
my real faith companion? The angry
zealot at war for Jesus or cause? Or the
more gentle soul who is branded wishywashy or “new age”? At the end of the day,
who is the real Christian?
We need, I believe, to be more self-critical in regards to our anger, harsh judgments, mean spirit, exclusiveness and
disdain for other ecclesial and moral
paths. As T.S. Eliot once said: The last
temptation that’s the greatest treason is to
do the right thing for the wrong reason.
We may have truth and right morals on
our side. But our anger and harsh judgments towards those who don’t share our
truth and morals may well have us
standing outside the Father’s house, like
the older brother of the prodigal son,
bitter both at God’s mercy and at those
who are receiving that mercy.
Oblate Father Rolheiser, theologian, teacher
and award-winning author, is president
of the Oblate School of Theology in San
Antonio, Texas. He can be contacted
through his website ronrolheiser.com.
What if Delta were a diocese?
has a lot of work to do in
improving customer relations.
“When a flier is frustrated,”
says the Wall Street Journal
story, “it takes just one surly
airline agent to give a black eye
to an entire company.”
The same can be said for an
entire diocese or the church in
general.
One bad experience with the
rectory telephone receptionist
can do it for a parishioner. Add
to that a few pointless and
ill-prepared homilies, and
parishioner discontent can lead
to a quiet departure from the
pews.
One frustrated but still
faithful Catholic said to me that
he wished his bishop would “go
undercover, i.e., dress in mufti
and sit in the back pews for a
few Sundays so that he could
observe firsthand just how poor
the worship experience is.”
So, what might be done?
Delta Air Lines is putting
every gate and ticket agent,
baggage handler and their
supervisors through daylong
renewed training sessions.
There is a five-point “lesson
plan” that Delta uses with its
employees to help them improve
customer service:
1. “Make it personal” – focus
on the person right there in
front of you; greet each one
“memorably.”
2. “Be empathetic” – put
yourself in the other person’s
shoes.
3. “Listen, ask, listen again”
– past experience has shown
that just as customers “tune out”
routine announcements, agents
tend to “tune out” customers.
4. “Solve together” – involve
customers in solutions by
offering them choices.
5. “Be there” – really be
present to the customer; “if you
don’t remember your last three
customers, you are just processing,” not serving them.
Perhaps some diocese somewhere (or many dioceses, if the
Spirit moves them) will come up
with a lesson plan of its own to
enhance the effectiveness and
attractiveness of pastors and all
pastoral associates in relating to
parishioners and others who
seek their services.
Indeed, the providers of pastoral services can themselves seek
out potential beneficiaries of
those services, if they had a few
training sessions in outreach
strategies organized for them by
the diocese.
If an airline can do it, the
church certainly can.
Speaking of the Delta program, the Journal said, “Lessons boil down to finding ways
to assist customers rather than
shunt them aside, trying harder
to smile, and being more
appreciative of their travel
dollars.”
Dollars aside, dedicated
parish staffs will be eager to
“assist,” loath to “shunt,” ready
to “smile” and always “appreciative” of the unique value of the
persons they are privileged to
serve.
It will surely be worth taking
Looking Around
Father William J. Byron SJ
time to hold a daylong diocesansponsored session to talk about
improved “customer relations,”
even though we don’t ordinarily
think of our parishioners as
customers.
Jesuit Father Byron is a university
professor of business and society at Saint Joseph’s University,
Philadelphia. E-mail him at
[email protected].
March 9, 2011
VIEWPOINT
| LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Killing trees has
bigger consequence
than abortion
The headline in The Advocate Sports Section on Feb.
18, 2011, read: “Man arrested
for poisoning oak trees at
Toomer’s Corner.”
Toomer’s Corner is a location where Auburn University fans go to celebrate victories.
This was a detestable and
senseless act and has cost
the accused man $50,000 in
bail. He is subject to one to 10
years in prison if convicted.
Now if he were a medical
doctor performing an abortion by poisoning an unborn
baby, he would have been
paid for the procedure and
protected by various federal
and state laws.
Doesn’t this seem out of
kilter? Doesn’t it seem a bit
insane? No, not a bit insane;
it is very insane. Society has
gone far away from right reason, as evidenced by this situation. Damaging trees is illegal and subjects the vandal
to fines and imprisonment.
Killing a pre-born baby in its
mother’s womb is legal and
protected by our laws.
Wake up world: How can
we be so stupid?
Henry J. Guidry
Baton Rouge, La.
Letters to
the Editor
Letters to the Editor should be typed
and limited to 350
words and should
contain the name
and address of
the writer, though
only the city will
be printed. We reserve the right to
edit all letters. Send
to: Letters to the
Editor, The Catholic
Commentator, P. O.
Box 14746, Baton
Rouge, LA 708984746, or to tcc@
diobr.org.
19
Sackcloth and ashes time
What Makes Being Catholic Great?
A Child’s Prayer
By Susan Heyboer O’Keefe
What makes being Catholic great?
Lots of little things—
Incense, bells, and candles
Feathery angel wings
Stained glass in the morning,
A rosary to hold tight,
A priest up at the altar
In purple, green, or white. ...
I
n a list of 50 things Catholics like best
about being Catholic, Midnight Mass
ranked first, with babies at baptism a
close second. The smell of burning incense
was third, ahead of the sacraments which
ranked fourth. Sacraments or sacramentals occupied more than half of the top 50
spots. In 22nd place was “ashes smudged
on your forehead.” That’s pretty high when
you think of the ordinary distaste we have
for ashes. But as Ash Wednesday rolls
around each year, the strange attractiveness of those ashes gets stronger and stronger. The lines on the rectory phones stay lit
continuously as caller after caller wants to
know, “When can I get my ashes?”
For some, it is truly the only day of the
year when they come to church. In our busy
workaday world, attendance at Mass on holy
days of obligation has diminished noticeably. But the self-imposed obligation of going
to Mass on Ash Wednesday to get one’s
ashes remains firm. Ashes for many seem to
be an eighth sacrament.
A
Capitol Hill police officer
remarked, “God is telling
us something!” following
his reflections on events of the
day that included an earthquake
in New Zealand, Libyan leader
Moammar Gadhafi’s bloody
massacre of his people, hardpounding storms, budget woes
and revolutions.
To take all of these events to
heart is to invite a heart attack.
How might we, therefore, keep
heart in the midst of these
alarming developments?
One good way to stay balanced is to possess the right
mindset. How we envision
events dictates how we feel
about them.
If we envision events as one
catastrophe or disappointment
after another, it can easily lead
to disillusionment and hopelessness. But if, as the police officer
indicated, we see in them God
telling us something, it can lead
to seeing the possibility for
hopeful change, deeper understanding and growth.
The psalms repeatedly teach
Popular devotion can tell us something
about the meaning of life and the meaning of
faith. Part of the attractiveness of Catholicism
is undoubtedly its sacraments and sacramentals. Sacraments, which embody the crucial
deeds and teachings of Jesus that he asked us
to do in remembrance of him, belong to the
essentials of our faith. Sacramentals are given
us by the Church and continue the function of
sacraments to symbolize the sacred and
spiritual in our lives. They draw us to God
and sanctify all aspects of life.
As Catholics, we are familiar with sacramentals such as the sprinkling of holy water,
palms, fire, incense, crucifixes, rosaries,
medals, scapulars, and other images of
Jesus and the saints.
In the Book of Genesis, God looked upon all
creation and found it “good.” In the human
Jesus, God brought his divine presence to the
things of Earth. To recall God’s presence
sharing our earthly life, the Church recognizes
signs of popular devotion or sacramentals.
In the line of sacramentals, ashes are
something of an enigma. They are signs of
repentance in the Old Testament, as when
King David repented of his having committed adultery with Bathsheba and then
ordering the death of her husband, Uriah.
Our Ash Wednesday ashes contain this
meaning, since they begin a season of
penance, but they have a larger meaning
than that. “Remember, man (or woman), you
are dust and unto dust you will return,” the
priest or minister says as he traces the sign
of the cross on our forehead with the ashes.
In the
biblical story,
God creates
man from the
soil of the
earth, and at
the end of his
life his body
will decompose back into
ashes or
earth. However, since
Jesus’ death
and resurrection, life has
been marked
by the sign of
his cross. We
are claimed
by that cross every Ash Wednesday after
hearing the words of God in the book of the
prophet Joel: “Return to me with all your
heart” (2:12). Lent is a time of return to God,
made each year in preparation for the final
free return of our lives to God in death.
For the Christian, the cross is a sign of
triumph over sin and death from which we
break free forever through Christ’s (and our)
death and resurrection. As each year’s ashes
fade from our foreheads, we get a little closer
to that final cleansing. Have a holy Lent.
Another
Perspective
Father John Carville
FATHER CARVILLE is a retired priest in the Diocese of Baton Rouge and writes on spiritual
matters.
What’s this world coming to?
about how God created this
earth through his almighty
power. As such, whenever a
natural disaster strikes, it
should remind us that, regardless of the power that we do hold
over nature, we are not almighty.
Disasters, as unfortunate as
they are, have a good side; they
teach us humility and who is in
charge ultimately. They help us
to remember that many things
aren’t under our control.
Mary’s Magnificat, also
known as the “Song of Mary,”
furthers our understanding of
humility by reminding us that
God raises up the humbled.
When we put God first, therefore, we in turn become raised
up with God’s hopefulness. We
are encouraged to see events in a
new and encouraging light,
God’s light and not ours.
Much of the poverty, disease
and suffering in the world are
because of corruption and
despotism, which have sparked
revolutions.
The word “revolution” means
The Human Side
Father Eugene Hemrick
a sudden turn away from
something or toward something
new. As much as revolutions are
frightening and sometimes can
turn out badly, they can also
combat despotic power and
return power to its rightful
owners, who are the people.
Global warming is controversial, but it is also a fact that
mankind has taken the earth’s
resources for granted and even
abused them. Storms, earthquakes and hurricanes can also
be seen as nature’s way of
revolting against the false idea
that humans, who are meant to
be God’s stewards of the earth,
are instead lords of the earth.
In the Spanish psalms, “a
frente Dios” means to front God
or look God in the eye. Today’s
chaotic events often have the
power of gluing us to our
television sets and other means
of instant communication. But
to keep heart in the midst of
alarming developments, we
must turn away from them and
toward God, who is the ultimate
guide for interpreting the events
of the day.
FATHER HEMRICK, a research
associate with the Life Cycle
Research Institute at The
Catholic University of America
and coordinator of institutional
research at Washington Theological Union, writes on issues
pertinent to the church and the
human spirit for Catholic News
Service.
20
COMING EVENTS
St. John Mission Project – St. John the Baptist Church, 4727
McHugh Dr. Zachary, will have a Mission Project each
Friday, March 11 to April 15 at 6 p.m. The evenings include the Stations of the Cross, with a Youth Stations of
the Cross on April 8, exposition and benediction of the
Blessed Sacrament, talks, and a light Lenten dinner.
Guest speakers will be: March 11, Father Andrew Merrick, parochial vicar, St. Thomas More Church in Baton
Rouge; March 18, Father Jason Labbé, pastor, St. Elizabeth Church, Paincourtville; March 25, Father Jeff Bayhi,
pastor, St. John; April 1, Father Lamar Partin CSsR, parochial vicar, St. Gerard Church in Baton Rouge; April
March 9, 2011
8, Father Chris Decker, pastor, St. James Church in St.
James and St. Philip Church in Vacherie; and April 15,
Patti Clement, a spiritual director. For information call
the St. John the Baptist Church office at 225-654-5778.
8:30 a.m. Proceeds will go to the Brother Eldon Crifasi,
SC Endowed Scholarship. For information or to register
call the CHS Alumni Office at 225- 383-0459 or e-mail
[email protected].
Brother Eldon 5K Run and Walk –The Catholic High School
Alumni Association will host the Brother Eldon 5K Run
and One Mile Walk/Run/Jog on Saturday, March 12,
at Catholic High School, 855 Hearthstone Dr., Baton
Rouge. Registration will begin at 7 a.m. in front of the
CHS health and physical education center. The one-mile
run/walk/jog will begin at 8 a.m. and the 5K begins at
Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites – The Secular Order of
Discalced Carmelites welcomes those who are interested
in developing their prayer life according to the teachings
of the Carmelite saints. Meetings are held on the second
Sunday of each month at Our Lady of Mercy Church Parish
Activity Center in the St. Gabriel Room, 444 Marquette
SEE EVENTS PAGE 21
PO Box 3316
Baton Rouge LA 70821-3316
For help placing your
classified ad, call 225-387-0983;
all classified ads are prepaid.
Business services
SouthEast Construction. Home repairs,
roofing, remodeling, flooring, siding,
patio covers, painting, fences, new construction, etc. All work guaranteed. Call
225-223-2953.
HOUSEKEEPER
Mature, Dependable
20+ Years Exp. References
Debbie
225-266-7655
Help Wanted
Business services
St. Joseph is the Patron Saint of a
Peaceful Death. St. Joseph Hospice is
available to support families as they face
end-of-life decisions. Peace, comfort,
dignity and support can make every day
"a good day." Call 225-368-3100 for more
information.
Kitchen counter tops. Call for free estimates. John O'Neill 225-938-6141 or
225-683-6837.
Business services
Business services
Experienced care giver, excellent references. Personal care services, companionship and more. In the BR area, nights
and weekends. Call Anita 225-907-6921.
WALLPAPERING
30 years Exp. References
Debbie
225-266-7655
CALLIGRAPHY ALTERNATIVE
Need invitations (wedding rehearsal dinner, party, etc.) addressed and not a fan
of calligraphy? Contact me at 225-7526696 or 225-337-4921 for services promising a good penmanship that is classic
no matter what the occasion. References
available.
Help Wanted
Help Wanted
Help Wanted
Help Wanted
Business services
Baton Rouge Care Service. Serving Baton Rouge and surrounding areas since
1960. Registered sitters, nurses, and
nurses aides for the sick and elderly in
the home, nursing homes and hospitals.
Licensed and bonded for private duty
care. 225-924-6098 or 225-667-0480.
www.batonrougesittersregistry.com.
Diocese of Baton Rouge Catholic Schools Office
Principal Opening
Catholic High School
of Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Faculty positions available
for the 2011-2012 school year:
Computer Teacher
Math Teacher
Math/Science Teacher
Spanish Teacher
For more information, contact
Mrs. Lisa Harvey,
Academic Assistant Principal
at (225) 383-0397
or visit www.catholichigh.org.
Recognized four times as a School of Excellence
by the U.S. Department of Education
2011-12 School Year
St. Michael the Archangel High School
The Diocese of Baton Rouge has thirty-two schools in eight civil parishes, with strong Catholic
identity the focus in all schools. The district is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools, and ACT and Terra Nova standardized test scores are above state and national averages.
Catholic schools in the Diocese of Baton Rouge…
Evangelize Hearts, Educate Minds and Embrace the Future
St. Michael High School, which is located in East Baton Rouge Parish, has a current enrollment of 740 students in Grades 9 – 12. The mission of the school is to foster the spiritual, intellectual, and personal development of young people as committed disciples of Christ.
Applicants must meet the following criteria:
1. Practicing Catholic
2. Minimum of 5 years of teaching or school administrative experience in Catholic education
3.MeetLouisianaStateDepartmentofEducationrequirementsforcertification
4. Demonstrated Leadership Ability
5. Availability prior to or on July 1, 2011
After submitting the online application form (www.csobr.org), mail resume, transcript(s) and three letters of recommendation to
DeaconJosephScimeca,CatholicSchoolsOffice
P.O. Box 2028, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-2028
Deadline for application: March 30, 2011
The schools of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, admit students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all
rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at its schools. They do not
discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of educational policies, admissions
policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school administered programs.
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March 9, 2011
COMING EVENTS
21
EVENTS: A list of activities coming up throughout the Diocese of Baton Rouge
FROM PAGE 20
Ave., Baton Rouge, at 1:30 p.m. The next meeting will
be Sunday, March 13. For information call 225-7748413 or 225-926-6962, or e-mail [email protected] or
[email protected].
Feast of Mater Dolorosa –The St. Joseph Society of Independence will sponsor its 103rd Feast of St. Joseph at
Mater Dolorosa Church, 609 West Third St., Independence Sunday, March 20. The feast begins with a pro-
cession at 4 p.m., followed by benediction. For information call 985-878-4592.
Chili Cookoff – The Knights of Columbus and Catholic
Community Radio Station WPYR are hosting the Louisiana Regional and State Chili Cook Off March 26-27
at the LSU 4-H Mini Barn, 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Activities include talent shows, children’s area, music, door
prizes, food, drinks and a “people’s choice” competition,
including a restaurant/chef category. The event benefits
the Children’s Hospital at Our Lady of the Lake Regional
Medical Center. For information go to louisianachilicoo
koff.com.
Catfish Dinner Fund Raiser – Immaculate Conception
Church, 1656 Curtis St., Baton Rouge, will host fish dinner fund raisers each Friday during Lent from 10 a.m.2 p.m. The dinners are $7. For information call Rogers
Jackson at 225-362-0907 or the Immaculate Conception Church office at 225-775-7067.
PO Box 3316
Baton Rouge LA 70821-3316
For help placing your
classified ad, call 225-387-0983;
all classified ads are prepaid.
BuSineSS ServiceS
BuSineSS ServiceS
BuSineSS ServiceS
helP Wanted
helP Wanted
Anthony's Furniture Specialties. We
restore hurricane damaged furniture.
If it's furniture we do it all! Refinishing,
re-upholstery, pick up and delivery, etc.
2263 Florida Blvd., BR. 225-413-2607.
Layfield & Borel CPAs, LLC
Baton Rouge, LA
Accounting, Taxes, and
Auditing Services
Grady Layfield, Managing Partner
Thayer Borel, Partner
225-769-9100
THOMAS LUNDIN, CPA
Accounting and taxes for businesses,
non-profits and individuals; business,
computer, financial and management
services. 30 years’ experience; professional, prompt and personal attention.
225-296-0404.
Mr. D’s Tree Service
3 Licensed Arborists
Free Estimates
Fully Insured
Don Decell & Carl Babin, owners
225-292-6756
DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE
National Catholic consulting firm seeks
part-time or full-time associate to work
with Catholic schools, parishes and dioceses throughout the U.S. Degree +2 yrs.
min. exp. in development, planning and
stewardship preferred. Travel required.
E-mail resume to: [email protected].
In sales employment advertisements, the advertiser must name
the product or service to be sold.
Ads must state how wages will be
paid (salary, commissions, etc.) if
money is mentioned. The ad must
also state if there is an investment
required.
helP Wanted
Pennington Lawn and Landscape
225-806-0008
Lawn & bed maintenance. Winter cleanup. Call for your free estimate.
helP Wanted
Diocese of Baton Rouge
Catholic Schools Office
Principal Opening
2011-12 School Year
Sacred Heart of Jesus School
The Diocese of Baton Rouge has thirty-two schools in eight civil
parishes, with strong Catholic identity the focus in all schools.
The district is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and ACT and Terra Nova standardized test
scores are above state and national averages. Catholic schools
in the Diocese of Baton Rouge…
Evangelize Hearts, Educate Minds
and Embrace the Future
Sacred Heart, which is located in East Baton Rouge Parish, has
a current enrollment of 499 students in Grades PK – 8. Steeped
in Catholic tradition, the school’s mission is to serve a diverse
community dedicated to educating the mind, body and spirit.
2. Minimum of 5 years of teaching or school
administrative experience in Catholic education
3. Meet Louisiana State Department of Education
requirementsforcertification
After submitting the online application form (www.csobr.org), mail
resume, transcript(s) and three letters of recommendation to
Deacon Joseph Scimeca
CatholicSchoolsOffice
P.O. Box 2028
The schools of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, admit students
of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at its
schools. They do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and
ethnic origin in administration of educational policies, admissions policies,
scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school administered
programs.
Donnie’s Furniture Repair & Upholstery. We do refinishing, repairs, caning,
painting of furniture and upholstery.
Business 39 yrs. Pick up and delivery.
10876 Greenwell Springs Rd. 225-2722577.
LEBLANC’S TREE & STUMP
REMOVAL, INC.
Prompt service-Free estimates
FULLY INSURED
E. H. “Eddie” LeBlanc
Phone 383-7316
BROUSSEAU'S Painting
Interior and exterior painting. Experienced and reliable. Free estimates. Call
225-241-8488 or 225-928-7194.
Dave’s Bicycle Repair and Sales. Free
pickup and delivery, free estimates, expert economical repair on all brands.
225-924-4337 or www.davesbicyclerepair.
com.
PoSition Wanted
Male Sitter/Companion. Healthy, retired Christian male desires sitting/companionship position. Will do light duties
for male with disabilities. Ref. furnished.
Jim 225-276-1841.
For rent
Office space for rent. 2, 4, 5 and 7 room.
1010 South Acadian Thurway, Baton
Rouge. Call 225-344-8500 ask for Jason.
For Sale
Ascension Catholic Mausoleum Donaldsonville. Twin crypt C109, St. Paul
corridor $6750. [email protected]; 504615-8790.
Greenoaks Park Cemetery. 2 plots in
Garden of Roses. Value $4190, sell $3500.
Call 225-242-0107.
Greenoaks 2 cemetery plots on main
road, section 15. $4500 or best offer. 225275-9301.
legal noticeS
Anyone with knowledge of the whereabouts of Mohamed Khaked Mansour is
asked to contact the Diocesan Tribunal
at 225-336-8755.
card oF thankS
Thanks to St. Jude for answering my
prayers. Thank you Jesus!
RS
announcementS
While we at The Catholic Commentator do our best to bring reliable advertisers to our readers, we are not
responsible for any claims made by
any advertiser.
Diocese of Baton Rouge
Principal Opening
2011-12 School Year
Special Education Program
at Redemptorist
The Diocese of Baton Rouge has thirty-two schools in eight civil
parishes, with strong Catholic identity the focus in all schools. The
district is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools, and ACT and Terra Nova standardized test scores are
above state and national averages. Catholic schools in the Diocese
of Baton Rouge…
Evangelize Hearts, Educate Minds
and Embrace the Future
The Special Education Department’s Guardian Angel and Career
Education Programs, which are located at Redemptorist Elementary and Redemptorist High School in North Baton Rouge, have a
current enrollment of 61 students between the ages of 6 and 21. The
program has served students since its establishment in 1962, and
students are mainstreamed into regular education classes whenever possible. The program presently serves children with autism,
specific learning disabilities, traumatic brain injury, developmental
delay, emotional disturbance, mild and moderate mental disability,
orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, and speech/language impairments.
2. Minimum of 5 years of teaching or school
administrative experience in Catholic education
3. Meet Louisiana State Department of Education
requirements for certification
After submitting the online application Form (www.csobr.org), mail
resume, transcript(s) and three letters of recommendation to
Deacon Joseph Scimeca
P.O. Box 2028
The schools of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, admit students of any
race, color, national and ethnic origin to all rights, privileges, programs, and
activities generally accorded or made available to students at its schools. They
do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan
programs, and athletic and other school administered programs.
Classified ads get results!
22
March 9, 2011
How can children be
raised in faith today?
Many people have commented on
how difficult it is to raise faith-filled
children in today’s world. This edition
of Viewpoints provides some tips on
raising children in faith. Tom Sheridan discusses a passage from Prov-
erbs and the lessons it teaches. Liz
Quirin talks about how families can
deal with the many technological gadgets that can sometimes get in the way
of family unity and teaching children
about faith.
Copyright © 2011 Catholic News Service/USCCB
Recipe for raising kids: Just add faith
I
By Tom Sheridan
t ought to be easy. After all, the
instructions are right there in black
and white. I even spotted them on
the back of a passing bus the other day.
They’re in the Bible. Proverbs, actually.
Chapter 22, Verse 6:
“Train a boy in the way he should go;
even when he is old, he will not swerve
from it.”
That’s how it reads in the New
American Bible on the U.S. bishops’
website (usccb.org). Despite the
gender-specific language, I’m certain it
also refers to girls. I have three, and I
expect the advice applies to them as
well as my two sons.
Either way, many a parent, this one
included, has taken the words to heart.
The proverb is generally understood
to mean training our children about
religion: doctrine, prayers, customs and
the rest. Good things. Vital and necessary. The proverb also can be taken
more broadly, about teaching compassion, good deeds and civic responsibility.
The two paths aren’t mutually
exclusive; a lot of religion revolves
around how we treat others. You know,
the “love your neighbor as yourself”
stuff.
Despite that, there are few parents
who don’t gaze at their children –
whether as kids or adults – and wonder
if they’re ever going to get it together.
“It” being life, and faith. And all that
wondering brings bitten tongues,
swallowed words, weeping, wailing and
the occasional gnashing of teeth.
That’s because, despite Proverbs, it’s
not so easy after all.
There’s a question no caring, loving
parent can avoid: Will my child grow up
to be a person of faith? The nature of
parenting is that despite instructions
given and rules made, growing up often
means wandering all over the place
before discovering, finally, the right
path.
All of this came leaping to mind
because of a recent series of studies
about the faith experience of young
people and the general level of knowledge many of us have about religion.
The studies can leave us conflicted.
A Pew Forum on Religion & Public
Life report tells us that Americans’
knowledge of their faith – and of
religion in general – is slipping away.
Catholics fare no better than atheists
and those of other faiths on a religious
knowledge survey.
On the other hand, there’s a study
offering a different perspective, though
it too brings concerns. That report, by
colleagues of sociologist Father Andrew
Greeley, maintains that many young
people remain faithful, even devout,
Catholics, but they are at odds with
many church precepts and practices.
Not unexpectedly, such a lackadaisical approach to religion doesn’t sit well.
For instance, Archbishop John C.
Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis
told USA Today in October, “I believe ...
that if you’re going to be Catholic, that
you have to be 100 percent Catholic. ...
And you pass that on to your sons and
daughters and your grandsons and
granddaughters.”
Yes. Of course that’s the goal. But
perhaps expecting our children and
young people – right now, at least – to
be 100 percent anything is a reach.
When they were teens, there were times
I wasn’t even sure my kids were 100
percent human. Years later, despite
their good, faithful lives and my four
wonderful grandchildren, I sometimes
still worry.
Parents shouldn’t ignore the call of
Proverbs and forgo their responsibility
to teach children about religion and life.
But – having done those things – it also
helps to have a gentle reminder of the
power of God.
After all, if the Vatican’s newspaper
can anoint Homer Simpson as a
Catholic – even one who fails to
measure up to today’s perceived lower
standards of faith – we can believe God
will help us bring our children around.
That’s not in Proverbs. But it should
be.
SHERIDAN is a former editor of the
Catholic New World, newspaper of the
Archdiocese of Chicago and a deacon
ordained for the Diocese of Joliet, Ill.
He writes from Ocala, Fla.
A family says a prayer during dinner at their home. CNS photo by Theresa Laurence | Tennessee Register
Bringing the millennials back to God
A
By Liz Quirin
student wrote “I d k” as an answer to the question: What will
you do after graduating from
high school?
“I don’t know” is not an unusual
answer, but writing the answer on a
paper in the form of a text message
showed a breakdown in recognizing
where texting language was appropriate
and where it was not, and how intrusive
it has become in different aspects of a
young person’s life.
Young people have developed new ways
of communicating and relating to their
peers and to others. They no longer need
a face-to-face community to share their
faith, strengthen their beliefs or offer
support in times of stress.
Their virtual communities can do all of
that for them without the burden of
coming together. In fact, I’ve watched
young people text their friends instead of
calling them on the phone. “Why don’t
you just call them?” I ask. “Because I
don’t need to,” they reply.
The wonderful technology that has
allowed us to work faster, that has
opened new possibilities to communicate
with one another in ways we could
hardly imagine 20 or 30 years ago, has
isolated our youth and given them a way
to remain alone and in community at the
same time.
It has insulated them from personal
and parish contact, thus changing the
way their families and their church can
relate to them. These young people who
were born in the 1980s or later are called
the millennial generation or millennials.
Their virtual communities can meet all
of their needs instantly. With Facebook,
texting and tweeting they can keep their
BFFs (best friends forever) current with
every move they make.
The millennials sometimes rely on
communicating with their virtual group
more than they do with real people in the
same room with them. Their knowledge
of social boundaries can be diminished
because they are interacting on a virtual
place rather than a real level.
Families that want to curtail the
virtual relationships and increase real
interaction with their children do have
some recourse, and some of the suggestions may seem simple, but take the
plunge and see how easy it is to reconnect with the real family, even with
today’s demands on time and space.
First, the family must gather for a meal
at home once a week. It doesn’t matter if
it’s takeout or home-cooked; it has to be
eaten at a table in the house with
everyone present, without cell phones,
access to the Internet, television or other
electronic gadgetry. Can you turn off
your cell phone for the short time it takes
to eat a meal together?
If, like so many families, children are
involved in activities after school and
you’re driving them to those activities,
start a conversation with your child.
Again, make sure everybody’s cell phone
is turned off. Car conversations can be
an important place to reconnect with a
young person because it’s nonthreatening, and nobody should be making eye
contact for fear of an accident.
Although older teens may have stopped
attending church with you, always invite
them along, and then go out to breakfast
after Mass. You never know when they
might go.
Even if they don’t go, talk about God,
about prayer, about making God a part of
their lives. It may pull you out of your
own comfort zone to speak easily and
openly about your relationship with God,
but it could make a difference.
Millennials are our children, and as
parents or grandparents we never give up
on wanting to bring them closer to or
back to God. Your efforts may be offering
them a real lifeline in a very virtual
world.
Never forget how long St. Monica
prayed for her son to come back to the
church. What was his name again? Oh,
yeah, it was St. Augustine.
QUIRIN is editor of The Messenger, newspaper of the Diocese of Belleville, Ill.
March 9, 2011
Catholic Schools Office sponsors Quiz Bowl
23
Shane T. Bennett, CPA, CVA
A Professional Accounting Corporation
• Income Taxes
• Monthly Bookkeeping
• Business Valuation
3752 North Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70806
Ph. 225-343-4715, FAX 225-343-4726
[email protected]
Nine
Week
Novena of
Divine
Mercy
The Diocesan Quiz Bowl was held Feb. 19 at St. Jude School. Top, St. Thersea of Avila School team is
the winner of the seventh/eighth grade division. The members of the team are, from left, Anik Nowakowski, Manon Vicknair, Ava Landry, Barrett Kyle, Emily Venable and Ana Britton. With them are Darlene Taranto, a member of the St. Theresa faculty, who is their coach, and Dr. Melanie Verges, superintendent of Catholic schools. Below, the Sacred Heart School team placed first in the fifth/sixth grade
division. The members of the team with their coach, Margo Brandt, far left, and Verges, back row, are,
from left, Christian Ford, Jade Woods, Alex Helwig, Claudia Pickell, Nicholas Mueller and Rees Romero. Photos by Laura Deavers | The Catholic Commentator
Tuesdays
at 6:00 p.m.
Mar. 1 – Apr. 26
Mass & sung
Chaplet Divine
Mercy
Nine
Novena
of
OurWeek
Lady
of Mercy
Church
Ave.,Y
Baton Rouge
D I V I445
N EMarquette
M E RC
Watch for at
the 6:00pm
annual retreat section in
Tuesdays
March
1—
April 26 March 23 issue.
The
Catholic
Commentator
Three join board of trustees
Our Lady of the Lake College
has added three new members to
its board of trustees: Dr. Redfield
Bryan, a special projects consultant for the FMOL Health System; Dr. Thomas B. Flynn, who
has served the Baton Rouge community as a neurosurgeon and
founder of The NeuroMedical
Center Clinic; and Sister Vernola
Ann Lyons OSF, representative
of the Franciscan Missionaries of
Our Lady.
The new members joined the
board in February.
“It is our great pleasure to
welcome these new members to
our board,” said OLOL College
President Sandra S. Harper. “Our
Lady of the Lake College will
greatly benefit from their ideas
and insights as we expand our
programs to meet future needs in
healthcare.”
The new members join board
chairman Steve Nathanson, CEO
of Genesis Energy, and 17 other
board members.
Nathanson has recently been
selected as the recipient of the
2011 St. Michael the Archangel
High School Sword Award, presented each year to a person who
has consistently given of his or
her time, talent and treasure to
the school.
“The college is at the pinnacle
of quality in healthcare education,” explained Nathanson. “We
are nationally recognized as setting the bar for standards in several academic programs, as well
as our commitment to the community in terms of service and
volunteerism. Our job as trustees
is to converge our resources and
those of the Baton Rouge area
with the institutional vision of
building one of the great Catholic
colleges in the South.”
Offering master’s, baccalaureate and associate degrees, Our
Lady of the Lake College is a fouryear, independent institution,
providing a strong foundation in
the liberal arts and continuing its
health sciences and nursing programs.
Mass & sung
Chaplet of Divine Mercy
Our Lady of Mercy Church
445 Marquette Avenue
Baton Rouge, LA 70806
24
March 9, 2011
Our Lady of the Lake College celebrates NCCW Our Lady of the Lake College is
known as a Catholic institution
focused on healthcare and as a
respected nursing school. It is the
only Catholic institution of higher
education in Louisiana outside of
the New Orleans area.
Our Lady of the Lake College
participated in the celebration of
National Catholic Colleges Week,
Feb. 21-26, highlighting the unique
aspects of Catholic higher education.
Through a series of faculty presentations and student forums,
OLOLC looked closely at both its
Franciscan roots and its hope for
building fresh connections between students and Catholic traditions. Events included a campus
gathering to discuss the responsibilities, challenges and benefits of
Catholic higher education; a brown
bag lunch presentation about ways
to incorporate ‘Ex corde Ecclesiae’
(a papal document describing the
mission and identity of Catholic
institutions) into everyday life on
the college campus; and a Mass to
celebrate the accomplishments of
OLOLC and Catholic institutions
across the country.
As an extension of the college’s
Franciscan mission, there is an
intentional campus-wide emphasis on meeting the needs of underserved and underprivileged members of our community. In 2010,
Our Lady of the Lake College was
named a Carnegie Community
Engaged Campus and has been
named three times to a national
Community Service Honor Roll.
As part of the week-long celebration, the Office of Service Learning
conducted a forum allowing faculty, students and non-profit community partners to reflect upon the
benefits of service learning and the
influence of this type of service on
the personal growth of both students and the local community.
“National Catholic Colleges
Week is an important celebration
of the role and responsibilities of
Catholic institutions,” explained
Brian Rash, chair of the college’s
Mission Effectiveness Committee. “We believe this week generated discussion on themes essential to our Franciscan roots and
reinforced the strong academic,
service-oriented and faith-based
community that Our Lady of the
Lake College is continually striving
toward.”
Offering master’s, baccalaureate,
and associate degrees, Our Lady
of the Lake College is a four-year,
independent institution, providing
a strong foundation in the liberal
arts and continuing its health sciences and nursing programs. For
more information about the college, go to ololcollege.edu.
Sister Uyen Vu OSF, an Our Lady of the Lake College alumna from the
classes of ’99, ’06 and ’08, gives a Blessing of the Hands during ceremonies to mark National Catholic Colleges Week. Photo provided by Our Lady of
the Lake College

Lamar Partin ordained Redemptorist priest

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