Catholic News 2

By Dennis Sadowski

TUCSON, Ariz. (CNS) -- Every time Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno looks through a telescope at a deep sky object or examines a piece of a 4-billion-year-old meteorite that found its way to Earth, he says he's exploring a mystery that spans both science and faith.

Not that the Detroit-born director of the Vatican Observatory is expecting to find each and every answer during his inquiries as one of the world's foremost meteorite scientists, but he finds that his discoveries lead him to continue asking questions that bring him closer to God.

"The idea of entering into the mystery and dwelling with it is what Christianity is, presents a hard thing to sell to people who are looking for the hard and simple answer. There is no hard and simple answer," he told a group of 25 people gathered for the Vatican Observatory's second Faith and Astronomy Workshop Jan. 11-15.

The mystery that is God and the related questions about creation, like why and how life exists, and the origins of the universe were among the topics addressed during the workshop at the Redemptorist Renewal Center in the Arizona desert.

The participants themselves were not necessarily seeking full answers but were looking for ways to help the children and adults with whom they minister ask questions that allow them to enter into the mysteries and uncertainty that both faith and science entail.

"We shut out science in our faith tradition," said Sabrina DiMatteo, a youth minister from Laval, Quebec. "This (younger) generation isn't realizing there is a science connection with our faith."

The idea for such a workshop surfaced in the mind of Father James Kurzynski, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Menomonie, Wisconsin, and a contributor to the Vatican Observatory's Catholic Astronomer blog (www.vofoundation.org/blog). He first suggested a gathering of church ministers to explore the intersection of faith and science to Brother Consolmagno, who had been exploring ways to bring the two seemingly diverse fields together.

The first two sessions have been popular with participants, some of whom expressed concern that they have had to overcome "Catholic fundamentalism" and its deep suspicion of science.

Such views may be fueled, Brother Consolmagno said, by cable television shows that, in the pursuit of ratings, often portray people of faith as naive and unknowledgable about the modern world. He said such shows have treated religion so derisively that the Vatican Observatory staff routinely declines requests to appear on them.

Workshop participants said they found nothing to fear about science, however.

Lauren Bordelon, 26, a religion teacher at Mount Carmel Academy in New Orleans, has used the material in the blog to help her students "receive" the universe as a gift from God. She told Catholic News Service she welcomes the integration of science and religion in her classes and hopes to see a wider connection in subjects such as anthropology, history and physics across the school's curriculum.

The idea is to help students "come to the answers on their own" rather than have it presented to them without discussion, she said.

It's that type of integration that Brother Consolmagno hoped would come out of the workshop.

"For a young person to see a person of faith who is a scientist such as their parish priest or their religion teachers, for a young person to see a scientist who is a person of faith like a Vatican astronomer, that fact, if they're thinking, should make them realize that the cliches are wrong," the Jesuit astronomer said.

To help participants better understand the intersection of faith and science themselves, the workshop incorporated a mix of activities and time for reflection. Each day opened with a faith sharing and discussion period that explored Catholic theology as well. The day continued with presentations from professional astronomers on current research and new discoveries.

There also were evening and early morning telescopic observing, hands-on experiences, such as an hour spent learning -- and studying -- meteorites, and field trips to well-known astronomical sites in and near Tucson such as the Kitt Peak National Observatory and the Lunar and Planetary Lab Imaging Center and the Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab, both at the University of Arizona.

Brother Consolmagno said he wanted the participants to see places where feel comfortable enough approaching science topics in their ministry settings.

"For 125 years we have been doing the true science (at the Vatican Observatory), but I don't think we have been doing that well in showing the world," Brother Consolmagno told CNS. "We need to be doing something that's more systematic, especially in the Catholic world, which doesn't know were not supposed to be evangelical creationists. There are people who don't know what our own theology is. They don't know what our own traditions are.

"So I can't reach them, but I can reach people that can reach them or reach people who can reach the people who can reach them. It's all go to be done one at a time."

Workshop participants comfortably discussed the big-bang theory, space missions to distant planets, the origins of asteroids and their own experiences observing deep sky objects. To a certain extent, they came together in a supportive community, knowing that they are not outliers in their local communities.

Some of the participants said they have been engaged in outreach through occasional telescope nights, parish and school presentations and connecting Bible study with recent astronomical discoveries. For them, they start from the perspective that God exists and that each new discovery reveals a facet of the mystery that is God.

"In life if you come open minded very much like your faith, that's when you start to learn things and that's when you can appreciate God and let him come into your heart," said Bianca Acosta, 25, who teaches science to seventh and eighth graders at Immaculate Conception School in Miami. "It's the same thing with science, if you're open to it and ask questions, because it's never going to be a concrete thing."

It's that type of thinking that encourages Brother Consolmagno and his Vatican Observatory colleagues who joined the workshop at times.

"An awful lot of what we do is simply to reassure the other scientific religious types out there that they're not alone," he said, "that there's lots of us, that independently we've all come to the same conclusions and therefore, we're either all crazy in the same way or maybe God is leading us to this truth."

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Follow Sadowski on Twitter: @DennisSadowski.

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IMAGE: CNS/Katarzyna Artymiak

By Simone Orendain

CEBU, Philippines (CNS) -- The Eucharist is supposed to create a new culture, one that is welcoming and only sees the flaws and failures of others as a reminder of one's own need for God's mercy, said Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.

The Eucharist is the Lord's meal and "when the Lord hosts the meal, be prepared to be with surprising 'others,'" Cardinal Tagle told participants at the 51st International Eucharistic Congress Jan. 24-31.

"In the meal hosted by the Lord, persons recognize a close neighbor, a fellow sinner, a sister, a brother with a place at the table," he said. "In each one, I see myself ... sinful but loved, undeserving but invited, shamed but embraced, lost but trusted."

Looking at culture in concrete, simple terms -- such as seating arrangements or how parish property is organized -- should help people make "individual and corporate examinations of consciences," he said.

The Manila cardinal pointed to the eucharistic congress itself as an example. In a mock haughty tone, the prelate pointed at the front rows of the pavilion, then to the faithful far in the back.

"The venerable cardinals, bishops here. And then those there ... I could not see (them) anymore," he said. "What culture is being lived out here?" After a moment of uncomfortable silence, he made a peace sign and was greeted with laughter and applause.

If a parish has a huge parking lot and no classroom space, that says something about its culture, the cardinal said, as does the distance from the first pew to the altar in the church.

"I see many of my brother priests here. Look at your room. Does it reflect a celibate culture? The way you arrange your beds and your things. You are celibate. Your bed should be single, not double," he exclaimed to wide applause.

He had opened his presentation on "the Eucharist and the dialogue with cultures" by greeting the packed pavilion with "good morning" in multiple languages, including the Cebuano dialect, Italian, Mandarin and sign language.

For Frankie Berry of Deaf Village Ireland in Dublin, the greeting meant a lot.

"Straight away, I warmed to him. His use of everyday words helped," she told Catholic New Service through hastily written notes.

Cardinal Tagle referred to the atmosphere of "eucharistic fervor" in the room of more than 12,000 delegates from 71 countries, calling it "climate change at its best."

"The climate of unity of peoples of different nations, tongues, cultures becoming one body in Jesus Christ: what warmth, what joy, what love," he said.

The same culture of unity should be found in every parish, he said, insisting that Jesus created a new culture by breaking from cultural norms. He "offered a new way of living, thinking and acting" and used space in a way that let children come close, allowed a woman known to have sinned to anoint him, touched a leper. While he "ate a lot," Jesus was always sharing those meals with people who would never be invited to dine at anyone's table, said Cardinal Tagle.

"Do the wounded, lost, shamed, humiliated and despised find a family in our community?" he asked.

John Glenn Avila, a seminarian "on regency," a period for discerning further whether the priesthood truly is for him, noted the cardinal's reference to "the culture of isolation," which Jesus broke through by welcoming the unwanted. Avila said one of the most memorable highlights of the cardinal's talk was how the culture of isolation could be broken, starting with the family.

"Restore the family meals," Cardinal Tagle emphasized. "The basic unit of the family meal is the common table. Nowadays the basic unit of the meal is 'my plate. And if I have my plate with food on it, I can go anywhere and eat it by myself.' But that is not a meal. That is just eating."

The cardinal hit on the pope's warnings about the "throwaway culture," one in which people buy things for the sake of buying them and then simply discard them.

"In the Eucharist, we propose the culture of gift," he said.

He pointed out that the Bible is filled with "people who are thrown away," including David under threat of being discarded by King Solomon, Joseph and Mary "thrown away to the manger," and Jesus thrown away by jealous leaders and finally tossed aside by friends who denied him. But God took all of them "in his gentle hands" and gave them as gifts to the faithful.

"Gifts that are given are not to be thrown away," Cardinal Tagle said. "This culture of communion and gift-sharing will make a eucharistic community, a real, a credible presence of Christ in the cultures of the world and provide the world a reason to hope."

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 WASHINGTON-Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York called on everyone "concerned about the tragedy of abortion" to recommit to a "vision of life and love, a vision that excludes no one" on January 14. His statement marks the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Cardinal Dolan chairs the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"Most Americans oppose a policy allowing legal abortion for virtually any reason - though many still do not realize that this is what the Supreme Court gave us," wrote Cardinal Dolan. "Most want to protect unborn children at later stages of pregnancy, to regulate or limit the practice of abortion, and to stop the use of taxpayer dollars for the destruction of unborn children. Yet many who support important goals of the pro-life movement do not identify as 'pro-life,' a fact which should lead us to examine how we present our pro-life vision to others."

"Even as Americans remain troubled by abortion," wrote Cardinal Dolan, a powerful and well-funded lobby holds "that abortion must be celebrated as a positive good for women and society, and those who cannot in conscience provide it are to be condemned for practicing substandard medicine and waging a 'war on women'." He said this trend was seen recently when President Obama and other Democratic leaders prevented passage of the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act, "a modest measure to provide for effective enforcement" of conscience laws.

"While this is disturbing," said Cardinal Dolan, "it is also an opportunity." Pro-life Americans should reach out to "the great majority of Americans" who are "open to hearing a message of reverence for life." He added that "we who present the pro-life message must always strive to be better messengers. A cause that teaches the inexpressibly great value of each and every human being cannot show disdain or disrespect for any fellow human being." He encouraged Catholics to take part, through prayer and action, in the upcoming "9 Days for Life" campaign, January 16-24. More information on the campaign is available online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxJwfcefUiU

He also cited the Year of Mercy called by Pope Francis as a time for women and men to find healing through the Church's Project Rachel post-abortion ministry.

The full text of Cardinal Dolan's message is available online.
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Keywords: Roe v. Wade, anniversary, Pro-Life, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, 9 Days for Life, USCCB, U.S. bishops, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Year of Mercy, Project Rachel, Pope Francis
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Vatican City, Jan 28, 2016 / 10:32 am (CNA/EWTN News).- While the experience of illness can certainly test our faith, for Pope Francis it is an opportunity to entrust ourselves to the tenderness and mercy of Christ, which Mary, his mother, shows us how to do.

“Illness, above all grave illness, always places human existence in crisis and brings with it questions that dig deep,” the Pope said in his message for the 24th World Day of the Sick, noting that our first reaction to illness is often “one of rebellion,” asking ourselves “Why has this happened to me?”

“We can feel desperate, thinking that all is lost, that things no longer have meaning,” the Pope said, explaining that while one’s faith in God is tested in these moments, they also reveal the positive aspects of faith.

This is not because faith makes illness, pain, or the questions that arise disappear, but “because it offers a key by which we can discover the deepest meaning of what we are experiencing; a key that helps us to see how illness can be the way to draw nearer to Jesus who walks at our side.”

And this key, he said, “is given to us by Mary, our Mother, who has known this way at first hand.”

Pope Francis’ reflection was part of his message for the 24th World Day of the Sick, which will be celebrated Feb. 11 in the Holy Land. The day also marks the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

The theme for the day, “Entrusting Oneself to the Merciful Jesus like Mary: ‘Do whatever he tells you,’” is especially fitting for the Jubilee of Mercy, the Pope said.

In addition to the Mass on Feb. 11, celebrations will also include the praying of morning and evening prayer, as well as daily Masses held in different places marking the various mysteries of Jesus’ life, such as his birth in Bethlehem and his resurrection in Jerusalem at the Holy Sepulchre.

The sacraments of Confession and of the Anointing of the Sick will also be offered throughout the week in different locations.

Bishops from different Catholic rites will perform the Anointing of the Sick throughout Jerusalem, as well as in Bethlehem and Ramallah, so that Catholics in the north and south of Palestine can also receive the sacrament.

Ash Wednesday, which will take place Feb. 10, is set to be celebrated in Gethsemane, where Christ  prayed the night he was arrested. After the distribution of the ashes, attendees will then walk through the Holy Door in the city.

Due to the fact that the main festivities will be held in the places that Christ lived and carried out his ministry, including many miracles, Francis said he decided to center his message for the day on the Gospel account of the wedding feast of Cana, where Christ performed his first miracle through the intervention of his mother.

With Mary's attentiveness and personal involvement with the newlywed couple in mind, as well as her and docile attitude toward her son, the Pope asked what the scene can teach us about the World Day of the Sick.

The wedding feast is above all an image of the Church, with Christ at the center, performing a miracle out of his mercy. He is surrounded by his disciples, and beside them all is Mary, “the provident and prayerful Mother.”

“Mary partakes of the joy of ordinary people and helps it to increase; she intercedes with her Son on behalf of the spouses and all the invited guests. Nor does Jesus refuse the request of his Mother,” the Pope noted.

He said the event serves as a sign of hope for everyone, because “we have a Mother with benevolent and watchful eyes, like her Son.”

Mary, he said, has “a heart that is maternal and full of mercy, like him; hands that want to help, like the hands of Jesus who broke bread for those who were hungry, touched the sick and healed them.”

“In Mary’s concern we see reflected the tenderness of God,” the Pope said, noting that this tenderness is also present in the lives of all those who care for the sick and are attentive to their needs, “even the most imperceptible ones, because they look upon them with eyes full of love.”

When this love is animated by faith, it inspires us ask God for “something greater than physical health” for those who are sick: “we ask for peace, a serenity in life that comes from the heart and is God’s gift, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, a gift which the Father never denies to those who ask him for it with trust.”

Francis urged the faithful to ask Mary to intercede in helping them to have her same readiness to serve those in need, particularly those who are ill.

“We too can be hands, arms and hearts which help God to perform his miracles, so often hidden,” he said, explaining that while the experience of suffering “will always remain a mystery, Jesus helps us to reveal its meaning.”

Pope Francis also expressed his hope that the celebrations in the Holy Land would be an occasion for increased dialogue among Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, who often bicker over rights and access to the holy sites in the area.

He closed his message by praying that all who are sick and suffering would draw inspiration from Mary, entrusting to her their trials as well as their joys.

“Let us beg her to turn her eyes of mercy towards us, especially in times of pain, and make us worthy of beholding, today and always, the merciful face of her Son Jesus!”

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Praying for a loved one's health and healing, tenderly caring for them and asking very human questions about why people suffer are experiences Christians, Muslims and Jews all share, Pope Francis said.

In his message for the World Day of the Sick, celebrated Feb. 11, the pope expressed his hope that the day of prayer -- and the entire Year of Mercy -- would promote an encounter of people of different religions and lead to greater understanding among them.

"Every hospital and nursing home can be a visible sign and setting in which to promote the culture of encounter and peace, where the experience of illness and suffering, along with professional and fraternal assistance, helps to overcome every limitation and division," the pope wrote in his message, which the Vatican released Jan. 28.

The main Catholic celebration of the World Day of the Sick 2016 was scheduled for Nazareth, a city in Israel with a large Muslim and Christian population.

With the Holy Land hosting the celebration, Pope Francis chose the Gospel account of the wedding feast at Cana as the biblical inspiration for his message, which looked at Mary's concern for the wedding guests, the servants' willingness to fill jars of water and Jesus' turning the water into wine.

"How much hope there is in that event for all of us," the pope wrote. "In Mary's concern, we see reflected the tenderness of God. This same tenderness is present in the lives of all those persons who attend the sick and understand their needs, even the most imperceptible ones, because they look upon them with eyes full of love.

"How many times has a mother at the bedside of her sick child, or a child caring for an elderly parent, or a grandchild concerned for a grandparent, placed his or her prayer in the hands of Our Lady," the pope wrote.

The miracle of changing water into wine is the work of Jesus, he said. But "he wants to employ human assistance in performing this miracle. He could have made the wine appear directly in the jars. But he wants to rely upon human cooperation, and so he asks the servants to fill them with water. How wonderful and pleasing to God it is to be servants of others!"

When one is sick, especially when one is seriously ill, he said, it naturally provokes a sense of crisis and gives rise to "questions that dig deep," the pope wrote. "Our first response may at times be one of rebellion: Why has this happened to me? We can feel desperate, thinking that all is lost, that things no longer have meaning."

But even when one's faith in God is tested, he said, faith gives people the strength to trust in God's mercy and "to see how illness can be the way to draw nearer to Jesus who walks at our side, weighed down by the cross."

Pope Francis prayed that God would grant Catholics the same readiness to serve those in need that Mary showed at the wedding in Cana, especially when those in need are sick.

"At times this service can be tiring and burdensome," the pope said, "yet we are certain that the Lord will surely turn our human efforts into something divine. We too can be hands, arms and hearts which help God to perform his miracles, so often hidden."

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The text of the pope's message in English is posted at: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/sick/documents/papa-francesco_20150915_giornata-malato.html

The text in Spanish can be found at: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/es/messages/sick/documents/papa-francesco_20150915_giornata-malato.html

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