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Holy longing for Lord Jesus

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By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
“The Spirit and the Bride say, come! The one who inspires faith says, Yes, I am coming soon. Maranatha, come, Lord Jesus!” The Bible ends with these words from the Book of Revelation, or the Apocalypse, expressing the holy longing that we cultivate during this sacred season of Advent leading up to Christmas. These heartfelt words have been the prayer of the church every day for nearly 2000 years, a long stretch of time, for sure.
However, we heard from the letter of Peter last Sunday that “for the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like one day.” (2Peter 3:8) Since we are just about to begin the third day following the death and resurrection of Jesus there is no reason why this great mystery and drama of salvation should ever grow old. It remains ever ancient and ever new.

Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz

We pray for the grace of the hunger and thirst of St. Augustine during these Advent days. “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you.” (Confessions) It is a stretch to measure a millennium in our imagination, and it is incomprehensible to grasp eternity, but we can, and we must seize the opportunity that each day offers to rediscover the ancient and new grace of God in its manifold expressions.
In the moment, John the Baptist is our guide. Prepare the way of the Lord, are the words of the voice who echoes down the centuries. He, whose pulpit is the doorstep of the desert, clears the way for the eternal Word made Flesh. This is the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the opening words of the Gospel of Mark from the second Sunday of Advent. Believing this, what sort of lives are we to live, brothers and sisters, is the question from St. Peter in his letter.
The answer to this eternal question is found in the gathering at the Jordan River where the people were coming to John the Baptist to confess their sins and to be baptized by him in the Jordan river. The first step forward in the knowledge of our salvation is the forgiveness of our sins. (Luke 1:76-77), as expressed in the Benedictus, the glorious prayer of Zacharias, the father of the Baptist. Returning to the letter of Peter again from last Sunday we hear that “the Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance… But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”
Biblical righteousness is grounded in reconciliation with God and getting it “right” with one another. The gift we receive is then given as a gift. (Matthew 10:8). In the midst of this distressing pandemic, the prophet Isaiah’s exhortation is compelling. “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” (40:1) So many people have lost so much throughout this past year. Righteous living inspires us to take many steps forward by giving comfort, by restoring hope, by providing support in whatever ways we can. To be reconciled with God is to unite heaven and earth. To create by God’s grace a “new heaven and a new earth” each day is within our power. Last Sunday’s psalm response conveys God’s vision and our goal. “Kindness and truth shall embrace; Justice and peace shall kiss! Truth shall spring from the earth, and justice will look down from heaven.” (85:10)
Indeed, we have been baptized with the Holy Spirit as John the Baptist prophesied at the Jordan River, an anointing and an indwelling that is the pledge of eternal life and the inspiration to build up the Kingdom of God today, and every day. In doing so we will have an impact for 1000 years. “Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!”

Santo ahelo del Señor Jesús

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Por Obispo Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
“El Espíritu y la Esposa dicen, ¡ven! El que inspira fe dice: Sí, vengo pronto. ¡Maranatha, ven, Señor Jesús!“ La Biblia termina con estas palabras del Libro de la Revelación o Apocalipsis, expresando el santo anhelo que cultivamos durante esta temporada sagrada de Adviento que conduce a la Navidad. Estas sinceras palabras han sido la oración diaria de la iglesia durante casi 2000 años; de seguro, un largo período de tiempo.
Sin embargo, escuchamos de la carta de Pedro el domingo pasado que “para el Señor, un día es como mil años y mil años es como un día”. (2Pedro 3:8) Ya que estamos a punto de comenzar el tercer día después de la muerte y resurrección de Jesús, no hay razón para que este gran drama y misterio de la salvación envejezca. Sigue siendo siempre antiguo y nuevo. Oramos por la gracia del hambre y la sed de San Agustín durante estos días de Adviento. “¡Tarde te amé, oh Belleza siempre antigua, siempre nueva, tarde te amé! Tú estabas dentro de mí, pero yo estaba afuera, y fue allí donde te busqué. En mi falta de amor, me sumergí en las cosas hermosas que tú creaste. Estabas conmigo, pero yo no estaba contigo“. (Confesiones) Es exagerado medir un milenio en nuestra imaginación, y es incomprensible captar la eternidad, pero podemos y debemos aprovechar la oportunidad que nos ofrece cada día para redescubrir la antigua y nueva gracia de Dios en sus múltiples expresiones.

Obispo Joseph R. Kopacz

En el momento, Juan Bautista es nuestro guía. Prepara el camino del Señor, son las palabras de la voz que resuena a lo largo de los siglos. Él, cuyo púlpito es el umbral del desierto, abre el camino para el Verbo eterno hecho Carne. Esta es la Buena Nueva de Jesucristo, el Hijo de Dios, las palabras iniciales del Evangelio de Marcos del segundo domingo de Adviento. Creyendo esto, ¿qué tipo de vida debemos vivir, hermanos y hermanas?, es la pregunta de San Pedro en su carta.
La respuesta a esta eterna pregunta se encuentra en la reunión en el río Jordán, donde la gente venía a Juan el Bautista para confesar sus pecados y ser bautizados por él en el río Jordán. El primer paso, que damos adelante, en el conocimiento de nuestra salvación es el perdón de nuestros pecados, (Lucas 1:76-77) y como se expresa en el Benedictus, la gloriosa oración de Zacarías, el padre de Juan Bautista. Volviendo a la carta de Pedro del domingo pasado, escuchamos que “No es que el Señor se tarde en cumplir su promesa, como algunos suponen, sino que tiene paciencia con ustedes, pues no quiere que nadie muera, sino que todos se vuelvan a Dios, … pero nosotros esperamos el cielo nuevo y la tierra nueva que Dios ha prometido, en los cuales todo será justo y bueno.”
La justicia bíblica se basa en la reconciliación con Dios y en hacerlo “bien” unos con otros. El regalo que recibimos se da luego como regalo. (Mateo 10:8). En medio de esta angustiosa pandemia, la exhortación del profeta Isaías es convincente. “Consolad, consolad a mi pueblo, dice vuestro Dios.” (Isaías 40:1). Tanta gente ha perdido tanto durante este último año. Una vida recta nos inspira a dar muchos pasos adelante al brindar consuelo, restaurar la esperanza y brindar apoyo de todas las formas posibles. Reconciliarse con Dios es unir cielo y tierra. Crear por la gracia de Dios un “cielo nuevo y una tierra nueva” cada día está en nuestro poder. La respuesta al salmo del domingo pasado transmite la visión de Dios y nuestro objetivo. “El amor y la verdad se darán cita, la paz y la justicia se besarán, la verdad brotará de la tierra y la justicia mirará desde el cielo.” (Salmo 85:10)
De hecho, ya hemos sido bautizados con el Espíritu Santo tal y como lo profetizó Juan el Bautista en el río Jordán, una unción y una morada que es la garantía de la vida eterna y la inspiración para edificar el Reino de Dios hoy y todos los días. Al hacer esto, tendremos un impacto durante 1000 años.
“¡Maranatha! ¡Ven, Señor Jesús! “

Like parents, God loves his children even at their worst

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By Junno Arocho Esteves
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – While sin may distort and disfigure the image of Christ that every person bears, it does not completely erase it, nor does it remove people from God’s abundant mercy, Pope Francis said.
At his weekly general audience Dec. 2, the pope said that even when a sinner remains “in error for a long time,” God waits patiently, “hoping that the sinner’s heart will eventually open and change.”
“God is like a good father and a good mother: They never stop loving their child, no matter what he or she may have done wrong,” the pope said during the audience, which was livestreamed from the library of the Apostolic Palace.
While continuing his series of talks on prayer, Pope Francis also offered prayers for the victims of a terrorist attack Nov. 28 in Nigeria; 43 farmers near the northeastern city of Maiduguri were brutally murdered.
According to BBC News, no one has claimed responsibility. However, it is believed that either Boko Haram or the Islamic State West Africa terrorist organizations, both active in the area, were responsible.
Remembering the victims, the pope prayed that God would “welcome them in his peace and comfort their families and convert the hearts of those who commit such horrors, which seriously offend his name.”
In his main talk, the pope reflected on blessings, which, he said, are “an essential dimension of prayer.”
Noting that there is a “continual repetition of blessings” in the first pages of the Bible, the pope said that both God and humankind give blessings, and that a blessing “possesses a special power that accompanies the person who receives it throughout his or her entire life and disposes the person’s heart to allow God to change it.”
Even though sin “altered” the beauty of God’s creation and converted the human being into “a degenerate creature capable of spreading evil and death in the world,” it did not take away the inherent goodness embedded in each person, he said.
God did not make a mistake creating the world or people, he said.
“The hope of the world lies entirely in God’s blessing: He continues to desire our good; he is the first, as the poet Peguy said, to continue to hope for our good,” the pope said, citing the French poet Charles Peguy, whose works were heavily influenced by Catholicism.
Departing from his prepared remarks, Pope Francis drew a comparison between God’s love for all and the love of countless mothers who wait in long lines to visit their children in prison.
“They do not stop loving their children, and they know that the people who pass by in the bus are thinking, ‘Ah, that is the mother of that prisoner,’” he said. “Yet they are not ashamed of this, or rather, they are ashamed, but they keep going because their child is more important than shame.”
“Thus, for God, we are more important than all the sins we can commit because he is a father, he is a mother, he is pure love, he has blessed us forever. And he will never stop blessing us,” the pope said.

(Follow Arocho on Twitter: @arochoju)

Called by Name

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A couple of our seminarians and I recently watched a documentary called “The Social Dilemma” (streaming now on Netflix). The filmmaker interviews former Silicon Valley developers who helped to create the majority of the social media platforms that exist today. Most of the subjects left their posts due to ethical concerns about the effect that social media is having on humanity as a whole. This is not a new concern, but the documentary is a helpful source to understand just how addictive our phones and devices can become, and the way that the psychology-based advertising strategy of some social networks can basically break our brain. People stare at their phones, refresh, and stare some more. While “The Social Dilemma” focused much more on the effect that this is having on our youngest generations, we all know that every generation is susceptible to this threat: the threat of having our primary source of truth, goodness and beauty be a plastic rectangle that we hold in our hands.

Father Nick Adam
Father Nick Adam

It was interesting that I watched this film in one of the places in our country where screens do not have such a stranglehold: the seminary. The community life and brotherhood of priestly formation is a great antidote to the addiction of the virtually connected. The men at the seminary are actually connected, in prayer to and worship of the Lord, in common purpose, in conversation, and in challenging one another. This is a great gift that houses of formation provide, and it is something that I advertise to those who I bring to visit the seminary.
I think our younger generations are waking up to the lie of our “plugged-in” society faster than the rest of the population. They know that they will not find truth, goodness or beauty from any social network because ultimately all of these platforms are only seeking eyes and ears and clicks to sell to advertisers. Younger people have seen the destruction that this causes in the alarming rise in depression, self-harm and suicide among youth that the documentary details. This terrible reality, however, is also the reason I believe that these generations are ready to turn to something deeper, something greater, because they know the answer does not lie on their phone, they know that the meaning of life is not how many “likes” they get, but how many real relationships they can develop, and how they develop in relationship with the God who made them. They have spent their childhood in digital spaces that might care about their eyes and ears, but not about their immortal souls.
The Lord is certainly breaking in and speaking loudly and clearly on college campuses that provide access to exposition and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and have thriving Catholic Student Centers because the students just want to grow in relationship with actual people, and with the Lord who actually loves them. I am impressed and inspired by the young men and women who are members of the Catholic Student Associations at the universities and colleges in our state, and I appreciate the pastors, like Father Jason Johnston in Starkville and Father Joe Tonos in Oxford, who support the students who are members of their flocks and hire excellent campus ministry staff to support them.
I encourage all of us this Advent to take a long look at what we are spending our time looking at and listening to. We all need more time with the Lord who loves us, and less time with devices that have made us objects of advertisers’ affection. I wish you all a Blessed Advent and a Merry Christmas.

An invitation to maturity – weeping over Jerusalem

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IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
Maturity has various levels. Basic maturity is defined as having essentially outgrown the instinctual selfishness with which we were born so that our motivation and actions are now shaped by the needs of others and not just by our own needs. That’s the basic minimum, the low bar for maturity. After that there are degrees and levels, contingent upon how much our motivation and actions are altruistic rather than selfish.
In the Gospels, Jesus invites us to ever deeper degrees of maturity, though sometimes we can miss the invitation because it presents itself subtly and not as explicitly worded moral invitation. One such subtle, but very deep, invitation to a higher degree of maturity is given in the incident where Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. What’s inside this image?

Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI

Here’s the image and its setting. Jesus has just been rejected, both in his person and in his message and he sees clearly the pain the people will bring upon themselves by that rejection. What’s his reaction? Does he react in the way most of us would: Well the hell with you! I hope you suffer the full consequences of your own stupidity! No. He weeps, like a loving parent dealing with a wayward child; he wishes with every fiber in his being that he could save them from the consequences of their own bad choices. He feels their wound rather than gleefully contemplating their suffering.
There’s a double challenge here. First, there’s a personal one: are we gleeful when people who reject our advice suffer for their wrong-headedness or do we weep inside us for the pain they have brought onto themselves? When we see the consequences in people’s lives of their own bad choices, be it with irresponsibility, with laziness, with drugs, with sex, with abortion, with ideology, with anti-religious attitudes, or with bad will, are we gleeful when those choices begin to snake-bite them (Well, you got what you deserved!) or do we weep for them, for their misfortune?
Admittedly, it’s hard not be gleeful when someone who rejects what we stand for is then snake-bitten by his own stubborn choice. It’s the natural way the heart works and so empathy can demand a very high degree of maturity. For example, during this COVID-19 pandemic, medical experts (almost without exception) have been telling us to wear masks to protect others and ourselves. What’s our spontaneous reaction when someone defies that warning, thinks he is smarter than the doctors, doesn’t wear a mask, and then contracts the virus? Do we secretly bask in the cathartic satisfaction that he got what he deserved or do we, metaphorically, “weep over Jerusalem?”
Beyond the challenge to each of us to move towards a higher level of maturity, this image also contains an important pastoral challenge for the church. How do we, as a church, see a secularized world that has rejected many of our beliefs and values? When we see the consequences the world is paying for this are we gleeful or sympathetic? Do we see the secularized world with all the problems it is bringing onto itself by its rejection of some Gospel values as an adversary (someone from whom we need to protect ourselves) or as our own suffering child? If you’re a parent or grandparent who’s suffering over a wayward child or grandchild you probably understand what it means to “weep over Jerusalem.”
Moreover the struggle to “weep over” our secularized world (or over anyone who rejects what we stand for) is compounded by yet another dynamic which militates against sympathy. There’s a perverse emotional and psychological propensity inside us which works this way. Whenever we are hurting badly, we need to blame someone, need to be angry at someone, and need to lash out at someone. And you know who we always pick for that? Someone we feel safe enough to hurt because we know that he or she is mature enough not to hit back!
There’s a lot of lashing out at the church today. Granted, there are a lot of legitimate reasons for this. Given the church’s shortcomings, part of that hostility is justified; but some of that hostility often goes beyond what’s justified. Along with the legitimate anger there’s sometimes a lot of free-floating, gratuitous anger. What’s our reaction to that unjustified anger and unfair accusation? Do we react in kind?“You are way out of line here, go take that anger elsewhere! Or, like Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, can we meet unfair anger and accusation with tears of empathy and a prayer that a world that’s angry with us will be spared the pain of its own bad choices?
Soren Kierkegaard famously wrote: Jesus wants followers, not admirers! Wise words. In Jesus’ reaction to his own rejection, his weeping over Jerusalem, we see the epitome of human maturity. To this we are called, personally and as an ecclesial community. We also see there that a big heart feels the pain of others, even of those others who reject you.

(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser is a theologian, teacher and award-winning author. He can be contacted through his website www.ronrolheiser.com.)

The four C’s of Christmas

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GUEST COLUMN
By Reba J. McMellon, M.S.,LPC
Coping doesn’t sound very festive, but it is an undeniable part of our holiday season. We cope with expectations others have of us. We are coping with the expectations we put on ourselves. And we try to cope with time deadlines, long lines and even perhaps ghosts from Christmas past. The holiday season is about jazzing up life during the winter season. A wonderful way to cope is to think about ways you can jazz up your life. Not the neighbor’s life, the economy or anything else. Jazz up life for you. If you enjoy certain traditions, do them. If you don’t enjoy the traditions or begin to find them monotonous, change them. Remember, it’s about jazzing up your life.

Reba J. McMellon, M.S.,LPC

Centering is a must in an effort to cope. Take some time to center yourself. Focus on what holds value and meaning for you this holiday season. Forgetting to center can have the same results as forgetting to breath. You’ll get lightheaded and dizzy and feel like you just might faint.
In fact, after a prolonged period of being off center, you might find the thought of fainting for a few minutes oddly comforting. Centering can be done in three minutes or less.
For instance, instead of trying desperately to pass the slow driver in front of you, relax and enjoy the easy pace. Or sit in your car in the parking lot of the shopping center for about three minutes, just breathing. Another idea is to simply sit in your own living room and look around at all the comforts of home-quietly. Try smiling during these times. It’s amazing how far this will go to center your body, mind and spirit.
Caring is paramount to making the holiday season a positive one. We are all guilty of getting so caught up in holiday planning and pleasing, we find ourselves with no strength or energy left to truly care about our family and friends. Take away the glitter and decorations, the ribbons and bows and examine the true gift underneath.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it were possible to wrap up a big box of caring and give it to the ones you love. Opening a big box of caring and love given to you by others would be wonderful as well. Showing more love and concern for each other goes a long, long way. In our communities, churches, synagogues and families, truly caring for one another will last long after the tree is taken down and the holiday decorations are packed away for another year.
Celebrate what it is you truly love. That can include most anything. Eat special holiday foods that you don’t indulge in the rest of the year. Think eggnog, or cheese straws; or candy canes and fudge.
Remember which songs you love to hear and sing during this season only. Play them, dance to them and sing them. If you have happy holiday memories, share them. Something as simple as putting a red bow on your pet’s collar can be a celebration of the season.
Learn a little about how Christian cultures around the world celebrate Christmas and maybe adopt some new ideas. Sometimes the best celebrations are quiet contemplations.
When we center ourselves, truly care for our family and friends, use our coping skills and celebrate the True Meaning of Christmas, we might look forward to doing it again next year. Masks or no masks.

(Reba J. McMellon, M.S. is a licensed professional counselor with 35 years of experience. She worked in the field of child sexual abuse and adult survivors of abuse for over 25 years. She continues to work as a mental health consultant and freelance writer. Reba can be reached at rebaj@bellsouth.net)

What our suffering world needs most of all

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Making a Difference
By Tony Magliano
More than anything else the world needs saints! And that is exactly what God is urging you and me to become. Not next week, not next month, not next year, but now is the time humanity needs us to decisively commit our lives to faithfully walk in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus – just like thousands of canonized saints and countless little known saints have done throughout the centuries.
Well, you may think that you are not the stuff saints are made of; that you can’t possibly be that good, that kind, that generous, that just, that peaceful, that selfless, that prayerful, that loving, that Christ-centered, that holy. And you’re right, that is, if you think you can become a saint solely through your own efforts.
The desire of becoming a saint, and the life-long ongoing effort it takes to progress toward that most important goal, cannot be attained if you and I simply rely on just our own will-power, talents and skills. The age-old temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil are far too powerful; they will overwhelm our best intentions.

Tony Magliano

Rather, sainthood is a gift from God. For only the Divine Holy One can fill us with divine life. But for divine grace, divine life to enter and evermore fill us, we must cooperate with God’s grace. We must consistently open our minds and hearts to the ultimate power of God and God’s love, and what God is calling us to do, and then the evil one will have no power over us. For as the psalmist says, “I keep the Lord always before me; with him at my right hand, I shall never be shaken.” So, it is essential for us to stay focused on the Lord!
Similarly, in the words of St. Paul, let us likewise “put on the Lord Jesus Christ!” And may our lives also echo his acclamation that in God “we live and move and have our being.”
You and I were created by God to fully immerse ourselves in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus; to daily pray over it, think about it, and radiate it in word and deed.
To love God with our whole soul, heart, strength and mind, and to love everyone as we love ourselves is how a saint lives her or his life. This way of life – the only way to fully live life – is the only sure, comprehensive, lasting cure for all that ails our largely sick world and wounded planet.
From abortion to euthanasia, from gun violence to war, from poverty and hunger to homelessness, from drug cartels to refugees, from child labor to human trafficking, and from pollution to climate change the world is desperately in need of saints!
Be inspired, sign-up to receive Saint of the Day (see: https://bit.ly/34Gwgkx).
Each holy person not only inspires others to strive for holiness, but also prays and works to change what St. Pope John Paul II called “structures of sin” into structures justice and peace; thus answering the saint’s clarion call to build the “culture of life.”
In his new social encyclical letter titled Fratelli Tutti (“All Brothers”), Pope Francis urges us to encounter one another – especially those human beings existing on the margins, victims of the “throwaway culture” – and to build-up a world of “universal fraternity” and “social friendship” where welcoming replaces exclusion, where bridges replace walls, where mutual respect replaces distain, where nonviolence replaces violence, where social justice replaces greed and where fraternal love replaces hate and indifference. (see: https://bit.ly/3e4NsDb)

(Tony Magliano is an internationally syndicated Catholic social justice and peace columnist. He is available to speak at diocesan or parish gatherings. Tony can be reached at tmag6@comcast.net.)

Pope creates 13 new cardinals, including Washington archbishop

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By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – One by one 11 senior churchmen, including two U.S. citizens – Cardinals Wilton D. Gregory of Washington and Silvano M. Tomasi, a former Vatican diplomat – knelt before Pope Francis to receive their red hats, a cardinal’s ring and a scroll formally declaring their new status and assigning them a “titular” church in Rome.
But with the consistory Nov. 28 occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis actually created 13 new cardinals.
Cardinals Jose F. Advincula of Capiz, Philippines, and Cornelius Sim, apostolic vicar of Brunei, did not attend the consistory because of COVID-19 travel restrictions; however, they are officially cardinals and will receive their birettas and rings at a later date, the Vatican said.
In his homily at the prayer service, Pope Francis told the new cardinals that “the scarlet of a cardinal’s robes, which is the color of blood, can, for a worldly spirit, become the color of a secular ’eminence,'” the traditional title of respect for a cardinal.
If that happens, he said, “you will no longer be a pastor close to your people. You will think of yourself only as ‘His Eminence.’ If you feel that, you are off the path.”
For the cardinals, the pope said, the red must symbolize a wholehearted following of Jesus, who willingly gave his life on the cross to save humanity.
According to canon law, cardinals are created when their names are made public “in the presence of the College of Cardinals.” While many Rome-based cardinals attended the consistory, more members of the college were “present” online.

Pope Francis finishes presenting a ring and scroll to new Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory of Washington during a consistory for the creation of 13 new cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Nov. 28, 2020. (CNS photo/Stefano Spaziani, pool)

The pandemic also meant the gathering was unusually small; each cardinal was accompanied by a priest-secretary and could invite a handful of guests, so there were only about 100 people in the congregation at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica.
The new cardinals came from eight countries: Italy, Malta, the United States, Brunei, the Philippines, Mexico, Rwanda and Chile.
Cardinal Gregory, like the other new cardinals coming from outside Europe, was tested for COVID-19 before flying to Rome and again upon arrival. Even after testing negative, he and the others were required to quarantine for 10 days and were tested again immediately before the consistory.
In an interview with Catholic News Service, the cardinal said he hopes Pope Francis will find him to be “supportive, encouraging and trustworthy” in his role as a cardinal, but his primary ministry is still to be the archbishop of Washington.
Of course, he said, he regrets that “my two sisters are not here, and the many people I know and love from Chicago and Belleville (Illinois) and Atlanta and Washington,” who were watching the livestream instead.
One of Cardinal Tomasi’s guests was the pastor of his boyhood parish, San Rocco in Casoni di Mussolente, a town of fewer than 8,000 people in northern Italy. In the past 80 years, the cardinal told CNS, the parish has produced more than 100 priests and religious sisters, “and now also a cardinal. I hope it will help to continue the flourishing of vocations from the parish.”
With the consistory the College of Cardinals now has 229 members, 128 of whom are under the age of 80 and eligible to enter a conclave to elect a new pope. Pope Francis has given the red hat to 57% of electors.
With Cardinals Gregory and Tomasi, who was born in Italy but is a U.S. citizen, the number of U.S. cardinals rose to 16; nine of them are cardinal electors.

Catholics say they’re able to deepen their approach to Advent season this year

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By Maria Wiering
ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) – Despite the pandemic-related dearth of holiday parties and typical social engagements that – for many – stuff the weeks before Christmas, Jolene Gerads said she’s feeling a special excitement about this year’s Advent.
There’s more time, more space, more energy, she said.
In the past, she, her husband, Robert, and their four boys, ages 9 and under, spent the holidays traveling to different parts of the state to celebrate with both sides of the family. That meant that many traditions they started on the First Sunday of Advent – such as the Jesse Tree – petered out as Christmas drew near, and never saw completion.
For the Geradses, this year’s quieter season of preparation at home means potential for greater focus and fewer distractions ahead of Christmas.
Catholics across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis may relate. With the COVID-19 pandemic upending daily routines and now some long-held pre-Christmas traditions, some are embracing the space created – both in their calendars and their minds – by fewer social obligations, an eliminated commute and more time at home. The First Sunday of Advent was Nov. 29.
Busy Advents of the past pushed the Geradses to exchange their stationary Jesse Tree – which follows salvation history through tracing Jesus’ family tree, often through ornaments on a real tree – for a book with a similar idea, “Jonathan’s Journey,” which could accompany them on Christmas travels.
The Jesse Tree didn’t work for her family, Gerads explained, because she never tied it to something already in their routine. Her successful Advent traditions, such as prayer around the wreath, are tied to things her family already does, like sharing meals.
This year, the Geradses plan to turn off the lights right before dinner and light the Advent wreath in darkness, said Jolene, 34.
Other families noted rooting some of their children’s Advent traditions in practicing selfless behavior. One common practice is putting a piece of straw in an empty manger each time a child makes a sacrifice, making a home for Jesus in their hearts as they make one for him in the creche.
Gerads admires a friend’s tradition, where family members write down their sacrifices on paper and put them in a designated “stocking for Jesus.” On Christmas Eve, the stocking is emptied and their selfless deeds are read aloud.
“There’s a lot of neat ways to dig into the season, since we have this extra time,” she told The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Gerads is optimistic about this year’s Advent because the family observed an exceptional Lent, she said. When Masses were first suspended in March due to COVID-19, her family decided to “make a rich Lent” for themselves, and doubled down on their intentionality for the season.
“We had nothing else to rely on,” she said of that Lent. “We didn’t have our normal ‘crutches'” such as external Bible studies or prayer groups. “We knew that this is what we have to work with right now, so let’s make it as rich as possible.”
Observing Advent as a family – and the liturgical seasons year-round – helps to instill faith in children, but it’s also important for adults, Gerads said.
Following the liturgical calendar makes their faith “not just a Sunday thing, not just a nighttime prayer thing,” she said. “It’s how we do life.”
“We need to be so much more intentional about bringing the beauty of the faith, and the church and the traditions of the church and the liturgical year … to our children, and into ourselves,” she added. “When you enter into it fully, the Lord can give so much grace through it.”
For Catholics who live alone, virtual Advent resources abound, many with opportunities to connect online for faith-sharing.
Advent during “Covidtide,” as some have termed the pandemic, allows families to enter a type of “family cocoon” or period of dormancy, said Anne Nicklaus, 57, whose family belongs to Our Lady of Peace Parish in Minneapolis.
“Like the plants that go to sleep in the winter, something is happening, and they are becoming recreated and renewed for something much greater in the spring,” she said. “And I think that can happen in their families. But it can’t happen if it’s crowded out with other things. In other words, we have to say no to something to make space for that greater thing that can happen.”
The Nicklauses also focus on the penitential aspect of Advent, which, she noted, is made easier this year with the COVID-19-related restrictions.
“Advent is a time of sacrifice,” she said, “but we are making room for something better.”

(Wiering is editor of The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.)

Drive-in Mass services becoming a Sunday favorite at St. Jude parish

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By Joanna Puddister King
PEARL – During the COVID-19 crisis, parishes have had to get creative to keep doing the things they did pre-COVID and St. Jude parish in Pearl is no exception.
Tucked in the city of Pearl Pine Park subdivision, St. Jude parish has found great success holding drive-in Mass on Saturdays and Sundays.
“The idea for a drive-in Mass was thrown around by staff as a joke in the early spring as we discussed plans to resume the celebration of public Mass,” said Rhonda Bowden, director of liturgy and pastoral care at St. Jude. But the parish quickly figured out that they would not be able to accommodate the number of parishioners they normally expected at Mass.
“With a drive-in Mass, we could increase the number of congregants by 50% over in-church Mass. We felt like we had to give it a try,” said Bowden.
As for a drive-in set up, that is where things got interesting. A few years ago, a parishioner donated an old mobile home to the parish to refurbish into a Mardi Gras float. “The exterior was painted Mardi Gras green. It rolled through downtown Brandon this past February on its inaugural parade route,” said Bowden.
After trying to conduct drive-in Mass from the porch of the rectory the parish decided to try the float with the Mardi Gras decorations removed, of course, and it worked so well that it became the platform for Mass.
“One parishioner with telecommunication experience setup mics, a mixer and a transmitter that didn’t require FCC licensing. Another parishioner added an awning over the midsection of the trailer for protection from the sun and rain,” said Bowden.
The help didn’t end there. Another parishioner built steps and a handrail and a portable sacristy was set up with altar linens, sacred vessels, the Roman Missal and other items normally used at Mass.
“Through the experience of the past six months we have added a few other items to our portable sacristy that you won’t find in a church sacristy such as wasp spray, extra masks, traffic control flags and safety vests,” Bowden elaborated.
Having Mass outdoors also brings comedic challenges, parishioner Cathy Haden shared. “One Sunday … as [Father Lincoln Dall] was giving his homily, his cat … wanted his attention.”
After meowing loudly up on the outdoor platform and being removed a few times, the cat jumped in Father Lincoln’s lap, Haden recalled fondly.
It definitely takes more time and effort to pull everything together for a drive-in Mass but parishioners, like Hayden have grown to appreciate the change.
At first, she was resistant to even try drive-in Mass, but through the encouragement of other friends who “loved it,” Haden gave it a try.
“The first couple of times I went, I admit I wasn’t crazy about it. But … I grew to love it as much as my friends did.”
Hayden said that the changes the church has had to make to allow parishioners to attend Mass more safely “have been stressful … but I have found our own attitude has a lot to do with what we get out of it.”
Over the summer, faith formation coordinator Stacy Wolf utilized the parish drive-in setup for Vacation Bible School.
“I took the ideas for an in-person Sunday School series about King David and adapted them to fit a drive-in format,” said Wolf.
“It brought so much joy to look out and see the families singing … in their cars. My husband, Michael took great pride in coming up with voices for the Bible stories. … My son, Owen, was a huge help with passing out our bags filled with snacks and at home activities for the week,” said Wolf. “It was a lot of work, but something I don’t think I will ever forget. Such special and sweet memories.”

Attending drive-in Mass at St. Jude is simple. Congregants stop at the check-in station at the entrance of the parking lot. There they receive the bulletin and any handouts. They are then directed to a parking spot by the ushers. Once settled, they tune their radio to FM 101.1 to hear and participate in Mass. At communion time, congregants are asked to put on a facemask and sanitize their hands. They are directed to get out of their cars if they can. The ministers of communion come to each car to distribute the Precious Body of Christ. After receiving communion, attendees get back in their vehicles. When Mass is over, the ushers direct traffic out of the parking lot quickly and smoothly.
Bowden says, “The drive-in Mass format has been well accepted here at St. Jude. While I certainly miss the liturgical beauty of Mass in the church, it is sacrifice that I’m willing to make so that others can attend Mass. We have a great number of our older parishioners and those with underlying illnesses that come to the drive-in Masses that could not come to Mass indoors. It is also a good option for families with small children and those people that have a difficult time wearing a face mask for long periods of time. We have had quite a few regular visitors from other parishes that state they do not feel comfortable inside with others for more than a few minutes. Certainly, being surrounded by God’s own creations of nature adds beauty to the drive-in Mass, too.”
As an added bonus to the seasons, the St. Jude staff also try to decorate the trailer for the liturgical and calendar seasons. For Pentecost, the green sidewalls were covered with red tablecloths. During the fall, they put bales of hay, pumpkins, gourds and potted fall flowers. Recently, the trailer got a coat of purple paint for Advent and an Advent wreath.
Right now, with the dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases, all of the weekend Masses at St. Jude are conducted in drive-in fashion. Bowden invites anyone that is interested in coming to a drive-in Mass at St. Jude to join them at 4 p.m. on Saturdays, 8 a.m., 11 a.m. or 1 p.m. (Spanish) on Sundays. Just be sure to register by going to this link: https://signup.com/go/vyZbHGK.

(Photos by Rhonda Bowden, Tereza Ma contributed to this story.)