Martyrs Remembered

In remembering the six Jesuit priests who were killed 25 years ago Nov. 15:

It is interesting to note that Jesuit Father Philip Pick (1916-2009), from West Bend, Wis., was sent to San Salvador on a special assignment in March 1989, where he lived with the six Jesuit priests for several months before they and two others were martyred.

Father Pick was a missionary and communications expert in Honduras for more than 40 years before and after his eight-month assignment in San Salvador.

The Salvadoran military post was a block from where the Jesuits lived. The squad had apparently been keeping the house under surveillance, and they were aware that Father Pick would be leaving on the evening of Nov. 15, 1989, to go to his home in Honduras for a brief visit.

When he arrived in Honduras, friends told him that his six Jesuit companions had been brutally slain. Father Pick put his head in his hands and wept. He grieved for months over the loss of his friends; and his desire to empower the people of Central America grew. Five of the slain Jesuits were from Spain, and one was from El Salvador. Father Pick was the only priest from the United States.

Father Pick said that while he was living with his six friends in San Salvador, the group bonded by celebrating Mass together at the chapel in their home every evening. They prayed for freedom, hope, peace and the safety of the beloved people of El Salvador. They also interceded fervently for the conversion of all their enemies.

The Jesuits would often relax by walking in their scenic neighborhood or by playing chess. They also enjoyed listening to Father Juan Ramon Moreno’s many humorous stories. He had a delightful sense of humor.

Father Pick loved his vocation as a missionary. He knew the power of God’s word and used his expertise in radio technology to spread the Gospel across Central America. He received frequent death threats because of his proficiency in radio communications, which was well known by his adversaries.

Father Pick founded Radio Progreso, which broadcast news, music, religious programs and literacy training. He taught many of the men in Honduras about radio technology, which enabled many of them to provide assistance in spreading the Gospel and to care for their own families.

He also helped start a hub of outstanding radio schools in Guatemala and Panama. His talents in radio technology were instrumental in launching Archbishop Oscar Romero’s powerful homilies in El Salvador. Father Pick was a close personal friend of Archbishop Romero and even prayed and visited with him in the morning before Mass on March 24, 1980, the day the archbishop, whose cause for canonization has been reopened by the Vatican, was assassinated.

         Lee Marie Ferchaud

         St. Louis, Missouri

 

Christmas Proposal

Christmas is here at last, and New Year’s Day is close upon us. In this time of making resolutions for the upcoming year, I would like to suggest a resolution that we all might try for the next round of Christmas-card preparation.

Of course, if you haven’t yet sent any cards, our “Twelve Days of Christmas” gives you time to put this into practice immediately.

First, let me ask: As you look over the Christmas cards you’ve received, which are the ones you cherish the most? I would guess they are the ones that include a personal note inside. I can’t imagine that many of us look fondly at the ones with nothing but a signature written below a pre-printed jingle or, worse, a mass-produced Christmas letter bragging about the accomplishments of the past year. Those letters can be more of a source of pain than comfort: Maybe life hasn’t been so good to you or your family. Or perhaps you wonder why you had to learn of these events only just now, when they happened months ago. Or perhaps you hardly know the senders and wonder why they’re telling you all of this!

No, I’m quite certain that the cards we most treasure are those that contain some personal message that wishes us well and perhaps shares some news meant to be of interest to us in particular. Most delightful are the cards signed by all the members of the family, even if some of those signatures are only crayon scribbles.

This is what I would like to propose we all try to do next time around, in an effort to “keep Christ in Christmas”: Think of Christmas cards as an opportunity to perform an act of charity towards the recipients, a chance to show love — or at least fondness — for them. And before any say, “My Christmas-card list is too long for that!” remember that the primary point of mailing a letter or card to someone is because we won’t be able to greet them personally to express the joy of the season.

If we simply focus on those family members and friends who would most enjoy hearing from us and who rarely do, our lists would probably be much smaller, and, thus, we’d have more time for writing personal, loving notes. 

Before composing our greetings, we should ask the Holy Spirit what he would like us to say to each person. Is it an apology to one? “I love you” to another? A funny story to someone who needs a laugh? If we allow the Lord to inspire us, each card will be one that is truly cherished.

         Celine McCoy

         Birmingham, Alabama

 

Campus Consequences

“Sexual Assault on Campus” (Nation, Oct. 19 issue) points out that sexual attacks often are committed when those involved are drinking. Do campuses have programs that teach about the dangers and consequences of abusing drugs?

Most are aware of the dangers of illegal drugs such as meth, cocaine, etc. Alcohol is a legal drug for those 21-plus, but it does have a mind-altering effect on the user. How many of these assaults end in pregnancies and in a possible abortion-murder?

         Alvera Sams

         Findlay, Ohio

 

Marriage Catechesis

I read with interest Benedict Nguyen’s column “Asking the Right Question on Annulment Reform” (In Depth, Oct. 19 issue).

I divorced my alcoholic-abusive husband in 1981, after 26 years of marriage. My priest-counselor, Father LaVerne Wingert, founder of Wakonda Prayer House in Griswold, Iowa, suggested that I go through that process. It turned out to be a very spiritually rewarding journey, while I learned what a godly marriage ought to be.

We married because I was pregnant — that’s what you did in the 1950s. There were no other alternatives that wouldn’t disgrace the family name. But through Father Wingert’s expert counseling and guidance, I developed a greater love for Jesus and my Catholic faith.

The father of my three children would not cooperate with the appointed judges of my case. In a matter of just a few months, my annulment was granted. I was never barred from the sacraments, because I was not in any relationship nor contemplating another marriage at the time.

When I did remarry, we got married in the Church. Unfortunately, I did not marry a Catholic this time either. It may not have been the choice God would desire, and it means I must work harder to have a good marriage. The suggestion I would make would be to have a more extensive preparation before marriage takes place.

We did have one 20-minute session in 1956 and a shorter one in 1988. Neither priest knew who we were. Both times it seemed that the priest did not want to discourage marriage at all. The second time, my intended had been divorced, too, and he had to undergo a very brief annulment process of his Protestant marriage.

I have always wondered if I really am married in the eyes of the Church. I never saw the Church papers and was just uneasy about it. Is the procedure different for non-Catholics than for a Catholic’s annulment? His ex-wife did answer questions for the interviewer.

I lean toward having a more thorough catechesis for a couple seeking marriage. I would sincerely hope that any changes to the marriage-tribunal laws not be done to satisfy an impatient mindset among some of the clergy and many of the faithful.

         Name and address

         withheld by request

 

Beautiful Reflection

In “Our Lady of America: A Light in Darkness” (NCRegister.com, Nov. 10), blogger Pat Archbold gives a beautiful overview of devotion to Our Lady of America. This devotion emanated from the private revelation received by Sister Mary Ephrem Neuzil and was published in a booklet, first in 1960 and later in 1971.

Both of these editions were published with the imprimatur of Cincinnati Archbishop Paul Leibold. This devotion has since been promoted by other bishops, including Cardinal Raymond Burke.

Archbold encouraged the U.S. bishops to fulfill the wishes of Our Lady of America: namely, to process the statue of Our Lady of America as a group into the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington and, there, reserve her statue for devotion. Our Lady of America promised protection to the United States if the bishops processed her statue as she requested.

To be clear, private revelation doesn’t have to be accepted by the faithful as necessary to salvation. Yet it has given us Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Fatima and the Divine Mercy devotion, all of which also were approved by local bishops and have resulted in the beatification or canonization of those through whom these devotions emanated (regarding Fatima, Sister Lucia’s cause for beatification is under way, but Jacinta and Francisco Marto have already been beatified).

The world is in a state of spiraling discord, with the teachings of the Catholic Church attacked by many and defended by few.

Why would any bishop have contempt for private revelation that is approved by a fellow bishop? Why would a bishop ignore Our Lady’s wishes in these deeply troubling times? Our Lady of Fatima promised that more wars would come if her requests for prayer and repentance were not heeded, and that was 1917. Haven’t we learned our lesson yet?

What will it take to get any reluctant bishop to participate in a procession of Our Lady of America’s statue? Please pray to Our Lady of the Rosary to enlighten our bishops about Our Lady of America.

         Patrick Kunklier

         Fairlawn, Ohio

 

Language Matters

On NCRegister.com on Nov. 13, senior editor Joan Frawley Desmond, asked the question, “After Brittany Maynard, Will More States Embrace Assisted Suicide?”

May I first suggest that every Catholic refuse to adopt the language used by the secular world (including our judicial branch) to obscure truth. “Choice,” the sovereign faculty of the mind, has been made synonymous with abortion. Same-sex or “gay” is used to disguise  homosexuality practiced by a minority of men and women. Assisted suicide, aka “death with dignity,” glosses over euthanasia. All are facades that glorify deviancy.

Everyone has the inherent free-will choice to commit suicide; but suicide by any name is not a “right” that can be granted by any human — certainly not by elected or appointed officials in a democracy. No human has supremacy over the life and death of other humans. No human is qualified to say to another human, “I give you the right to kill yourself” or “I give you the right to take human life.”  

We must “cast down the mighty from their thrones” who believe they can give those rights.

The purpose of law is not to put an unproven belief like “death with dignity” into practice, but to govern in the way we know is right. The fact that legislation permitting this act contains an immunity clause to protect participants from criminal liability is proof the sponsors believe it’s wrong. They deny the responsibility of the participants before the fact. Remember, everything God created is good.

As for “death with dignity” — is there any dignity in the ultimate losing battle the body wages to hold on to the very life some hold so cheaply?

When things get rough, should we give up? Do we want an attitude of defeatism pervading the White House, Congress, institutions of learning or the military? A defeatist attitude will destroy far more than terminal human life. A belief in, or fostering of, defeatism does not belong in government office, in judgeships or in 50 state laws. Indifference to defeatism does not belong in the U.S. Supreme Court.

                        Ruth Ruhl-LaMusga

                        Chico, California

 

Correction

In our “Last-Minute Gift Guide” (Dec. 14 issue), we published the wrong website for Tiny Saints. It is ShopTinySaints.com. The Register regrets the error.