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NATION
MOBILE, Ala. (OSV News) – An Alabama Catholic priest known for talking about demonology and exorcism has now been fully returned to the lay state months after he fled the country with a recent Catholic high school graduate. The Archdiocese of Mobile announced in a Jan. 5 statement that it had “received notice that the laicization of Alex Crow is complete, effective immediately” in a decision confirmed by Pope Francis. The archdiocese said Crow initiated the process and “this decision of Pope Francis is final. There is no appeal.” On Nov. 20, the former priest civilly married Taylor Victoria Harrison, 18, a June 2023 graduate of McGill-Toolen Catholic High School with whom he had traveled to Italy in July 2023 after abruptly leaving his assignment as a parochial vicar at Corpus Christi Parish in Mobile, Alabama. Harrison turned 18 in June prior to travel, but her family repeatedly expressed grave concerns their daughter had been groomed by Crow, 30, while she was a minor as he provided pastoral ministry to students. Crow handwrote her a Valentine’s Day love letter where he described himself to the minor (at the time) as “married” to her and indicated plans for the pair to be in Italy together “with our family.” Mobile Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi had suspended Crow’s priestly faculties in late July, ordering him not to present himself as a priest, and in a Jan. 5 statement thanked Pope Francis for his decision.
TUCKAHOE, N.Y. (OSV News) – A beloved Italian saint is speaking to the faithful anew through a series of letters sent directly to their email inboxes. The Saint Pio Foundation has announced the release of “Epistolary,” a collection of 365 letters written by Padre (“Father”) Pio to his spiritual directors and students. A dedicated page on the foundation’s website includes a sign-up form (available at https://www.saintpiofoundation.org/saint-pios-epistolary) for receiving a weekly PFY with seven letters, one for each day of a given week. The first batch of letters was sent out Jan. 1 by the Tuckahoe, New York-based foundation. Freshly translated into English from the original Italian, the Epistolary represents a fraction of the “thousands and thousands of letters” Padre Pio wrote during his lifetime, Luciano Lamonarca, founder and CEO of the Saint Pio Foundation, told OSV News. Lamonarca said the Epistolary is one of several “gifts” he wanted to give to the Catholic community to mark the foundation’s upcoming 10th anniversary in April. But the gifts he has received from his own devotion to the saint have been life-changing, he added, noting that he and his wife Valentina credit the 2015 birth of their son Sebastian – after losing several children to stillbirth and miscarriages – to the saint’s intercession. Lamonarca told OSV News that Padre Pio’s spiritual wisdom is summarized in one of the saint’s best-known maxims: pray, hope and don’t worry. “He releases his fear, he releases everything (into) God’s grace.”
ST. PAUL, Minn. (OSV News) – A multiyear investigation overseen by the Catholic Church into Archbishop John C. Nienstedt, who resigned from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has ended with the Vatican finding he acted “imprudently” in several instances but not criminally under canon law, Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda said in a statement Jan. 5. “None of those instances, either standing alone or taken together, were determined to warrant any further investigation or penal sanctions,” Archbishop Hebda said, but Pope Francis determined several administrative actions “are justified.” Among them, Archbishop Nienstedt “may not exercise any public ministries” in the “Province of St. Paul and Minneapolis,” which covers Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota; “may not reside in the Province of St. Paul and Minneapolis”; and “may not exercise ministry in any way outside of his diocese of residence” without permission of the local bishop. Archbishop Nienstedt resigned after criminal and civil charges were brought against the archdiocese in June 2015 for failing to protect children from a former pastor convicted of sexually abusing three minors in his parish. The civil and criminal charges against the archdiocese were dismissed in 2015 and 2016, respectively. In a response to the findings, Archbishop Nienstedt, who lives in Michigan, said he resigned to give the archdiocese “a new beginning” and he has asked the Holy See to clarify the “imprudent” actions he allegedly committed.

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Giving to others in need is not enough; people must look those they help in the eyes and be willing to touch their poverty with their hands and hearts, Pope Francis said. Meeting Jan. 5 with members of the Unicoop supermarket cooperative, which is based in Florence, Italy, the pope said Christians must “be close to the people we help.” When hearing confessions, he said, he asks people if they give to the poor, to which people often answer “yes.” The pope said he asks in reply: “And tell me, when you give to the poor, do you look in the eyes of the person, touch their hand, or throw the money there?” He told the group, “Touch, touch poverty, touch,” encouraging them to develop “a heart that touches, to look and to understand.”
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis expressed his condolences and prayers after two bombings in Kerman, Iran, claimed the lives of 84 people and wounded scores more at a memorial for an assassinated Iranian military officer. In a telegram sent on behalf of the pope Jan. 5, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said the pope “was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life caused by the recent explosions in Kerman.” “He sends the assurance of his prayers for those who have died and for their grieving families” and expressed “his spiritual solidarity with the injured,” the telegram said. The pope also “invokes upon all the people of Iran, the Almighty’s blessing of wisdom and peace,” it said. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Jan. 3 attack in southern Iran, saying it was caused by two of its members wearing and detonating explosives. The blasts went off outside a cemetery where thousands had gathered for the anniversary of the assassination of Qasem Soleimani in 2020. Soleimani, whose militia force had fought against the Islamic State in Iraq, had been killed in Iraq in 2020 by a U.S. drone strike.

WORLD
SOKOTO, Nigeria (OSV News) – Gov. Caleb Mutfwang of Nigeria’s Plateau state declared a week of mourning Jan. 1-8 to honor the deaths of at least 200 Christians killed over Christmas by Fulani Muslim herders, targeting Christians in the country. Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto said the attackers are “children of darkness” and come “from the deepest pit of hell.” The Dec. 23-28 killings also have led to thousands of people being forced to flee their homes. As many as 80 villages in Plateau state were attacked, Christian aid group Release International reported Dec. 30. Bodies continue to be discovered, and attacks are expected to continue, Release International reported. “I urge all citizens to use these days for intense prayers to seek the intervention of the almighty God in defending our territories against wicked men that have risen against us,” Mutfwang said in a video statement released Jan. 2. In a three-page New Year’s message, called “Blood and crucifixion on the Plateau,” a copy of which OSV News obtained, Bishop Kukah strongly condemned the killers as “sons of Satan” who “came to the Plateau again, bearing their gifts of death and destruction.” he said. The Fulani herders “came from the deepest pit of hell” and snatched “the light of the joy of Christmas from thousands of people on the Plateau.”
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain (OSV News) – U.S. pilgrims made up the largest international group walking the famous Camino to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, in 2023. The Way of St. James welcomed over 32,000 American visitors in a record year for the ancient pilgrimage site. Interest in the Camino de Santiago – a network of pilgrim routes across Europe that lead to the Tomb of Saint James – is greater than ever, with the worldwide number of pilgrims walking the site approaching half a million. Not everyone, however, walks because of religious reasons. According to the statistics published by the pilgrims’ office, 446,035 pilgrims from all over the world arrived in the City of the Apostles last year. With 44% of the pilgrims (almost 200,000) being Spanish, Americans were the most common international visitors (32,063), followed by Italians (28,645) and Germans (24,342). The Portuguese, French, British, Mexicans, South Koreans and Irish were also represented in the top ten, followed by pilgrims from destinations as far as Australia, Brazil and Canada. According to the Pilgrims’ Bureau, 42.6% of arrivals cited “religious reasons,” 4.7% cited “religious and other reasons” in the latest statistics and 22.7% were walking for “non-religious reasons.”
MEXICO CITY (OSV News) – The U.S. Department of State has demanded the release of Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa and other imprisoned Nicaraguan religious leaders following a wave of detentions targeting Catholic clergy over the Christmas season. The Jan. 2 statement described Bishop Álvarez and the other religious leaders – including Bishop Isidoro Mora of Siuna – as “unjustly detained” and deplored the conditions in which they were being held. Bishop Álvarez has been detained for more than 500 days, it noted. “Nicaraguan authorities have kept Bishop Álvarez in isolation, blocked independent evaluation of the conditions of his imprisonment, and released staged videos and photographs that only increase concerns about his well-being,” read the statement, signed by State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. The regime of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, “continues to impose severe restrictions on religious communities and deny Nicaraguan citizens the ability to freely practice their religions and express their beliefs. We once again call on the Nicaraguan government to release Bishop Rolando Álvarez immediately and without conditions.” In a separate post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Miller called Bishop Álvarez’s detention “unconscionable,” adding, “Freedom of belief is a human right.” On Dec. 31, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes of Managua urged prayer for the “families and communities that at this moment feel the absence of their priests or are experiencing other types of pain.”

Turning to Our Lady of Guadalupe with love, hope saved her life, singer says

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By Theresa Cisneros
LOS ANGELES (OSV News) – Five years ago, Rosy Oros lay comatose in a hospital bed in Mexico – some 1,500 miles away from home – after experiencing complications from a medical procedure that had taken a drastic toll on her body and mind.
She was suffering internal and external bleeding, her organs were damaged, and doctors gave her only a 2% chance of surviving.
As she lay there on the brink of death, she finally opened her eyes and – in a haze – saw a familiar set of brown eyes gazing back at her, lovingly, that were very much still alive.
Those eyes belonged to an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe hanging just a few feet away, at once filling her heart with love and hope that the Virgin Mary she’d held dear since childhood would intercede with Jesus to help her make it out of the clinic alive.
Oros’ healing journey came full circle this December as she and other musicians sang hymns of praise and thanksgiving to Our Lady of Guadalupe during the annual “Las Mañanitas” celebration at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in honor of her feast day.
“I am so humbled and blessed to be able to stand there and in my own simple way give thanks to the Virgin,” Oros told Angelus, the online news outlet of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. “It may seem insignificant but I know that she is receiving it with a lot of love and that it makes her happy, because she knows my heart.”
At the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, the festivities ran from the evening of Dec. 11 into the early hours of Guadalupe’s feast day, Dec. 12.

A radiant Rosy Oros stands before an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles during the annual “Las Mañanitas” celebration Dec. 11-12, 2023, in honor of Our Lady’s feast. The singer credits her healing from a deadly infection to the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2018. (OSV News photo/Victor Alemán, Angelus)

As in years past, the celebration featured Aztec and Ballet Folklorico dancers, veneration of the only relic of St. Juan Diego’s “tilma” in the U.S., the rosary, a musical tribute that included “Las Mañanitas,” and ended with midnight Mass, where Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles said the Guadalupe story is a reminder that “Jesus Christ loves us so much that he came to share our hopes and dreams and to offer his life for us.”
“Just as she did with Juan Diego, the most holy Mary entrusts each of us with a task. She has a message that she needs us to spread and she is sending us to tell the whole world about Jesus.” he said.
Oros aimed to do just that as she and six other guest singers delivered individual serenades to the Virgin backed by Mariachi Garibaldi de Jaime Cuellar.
Oros carefully made her way onto the altar, set down a bouquet of red roses near two giant images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego bedecked with hundreds of flowers, and sang two songs to the Virgin while looking deep into the compassionate eyes that she’s come to know so well.
It was a moment that she had trained for all her life.
Oros was born in Aguascalientes, Mexico, into a family of nine that is both musically inclined and devoutly Catholic; one of her brothers spent six years in the seminary, while another is currently a Jesuit novice. She immigrated to Santa Maria in California as a preteen, and studied music theory and vocalization, singing to God and to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
At 12, she discovered a love for Mexican “ranchera” music when her father bought her a copy of Linda Ronstadt’s 1987 album “Canciones De Mi Padre” – in which the American singer recorded traditional mariachi songs that were of special significance to her family.
“I would lock myself in my room and listen to the cassette over and over and over again until I learned all the songs,” she said.
Since then, Oros has remained close to the singing world. She’s enjoyed a long career working in TV, radio, the recording industry and now in publishing as editor-in-chief of Iconos, her own magazine highlighting music and entertainment news.
While she’s remained mostly behind the scenes, she has recorded jingles, produced her own albums and sings when the occasion arises. While living in New York, she had the chance to sing on the “Late Show with David Letterman,” for fashion designer Oscar de la Renta and open for Mexican “ranchera” icon Vicente Fernández at Madison Square Garden.
Oros accepted the chance to sing during this year’s “Mañanitas” celebration at the cathedral, out of gratitude for the role she said Our Lady played in saving her life just five years ago.
In 2018, Oros went into septic shock, and then fell into a coma, after undergoing a medical procedure in Aguascalientes. After awakening, she suffered a cerebral thrombosis and other complications that worsened her prognosis.
Drifting in and out of consciousness, she spent the early days of her recovery in a clinic named, aptly, for Our Lady of Guadalupe, where she said she experienced the love of Jesus for her through Mary.
A pivotal point in her healing, she said, came when she and her husband received messages from Mary through a prayer group.
“She said, ‘I am with you, do not be afraid,’” Oros said. “’You will heal from this but we will do this together …’ In other words, she wanted me to get closer to her Son while holding her by the hand.”
Today, Oros’ body and faith have grown continually stronger.
“She interceded for me to live,” she said. “We always look for the opportunity to thank her and to be in communion with her.”
Surviving the near-fatal incident has shown Oros that Our Lady of Guadalupe is very much alive and is there to help all of her children, she said.
“We may not be perfect, we may be sinners, we may fall, but in the end this is proof of the love and mercy of Christ through his mother. She is the key to the door that opens to Christ and to our salvation.”

(Theresa Cisneros writes for Angelus, the online news outlet of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.)

Serving church, country ‘an honor,’ says priest promoted to general in Air Force Chaplain Corps

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By OSV News
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – At Blessed Sacrament Parish in Tallahassee, Father Peter Zalewski is a busy and beloved pastor, tending to the activities of his church community and the local Catholic school, the largest primary school in the Pensacola-Tallahassee Diocese.
But the pastor also serves in the Air Force Chaplain Corps, and with his Dec. 14 promotion to a one-star, or brigadier, general, he now holds the highest rank in the military of any Catholic priest.
On his one day off a week, he’ll be tending to meetings at the Pentagon or elsewhere in Washington, because he now serves as the primary adviser to the chief of the National Guard Bureau on religious, ethical and morale issues.
As a general, Father Zalewski will provide guidance and programs directing National Guard chaplain personnel and supporting Army and Air Guardsmen.
The Dec. 14 promotion ceremony at the Florida National Guard Headquarters in St. Augustine was the culmination of Father Zalewski’s nearly 40-year life in the military, which began in 1984 as a cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Father Pete Zalewszki, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Tallahassee, Fla., is seen during a Dec. 14, 2023, ceremony at the Florida National Guard Headquarters in St. Augustine where he was promoted him to brigadier general in the Air Force Chaplain Corps. Now the highest-ranked Catholic clergyman in the U.S. Armed Services, he will minister to members of both the Air and Army National Guard. (OSV News photo/courtesy Catholic Extension)

In the early 1990s, he deployed in major military operations, including serving as an intelligence officer in Operation Desert Storm in the first Gulf War. He was following in the footsteps of his father, who served two tours in Vietnam, but he also pursued a military career with encouragement of his mother, who helped him appreciate the meaning of serving the Armed Forces.
The Florida native eventually heard the call to pursue the priesthood instead of Air Force pilot training, so in 1992 he became a seminarian for the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. He also became an Air Force chaplain candidate.
At his promotion ceremony, Father Zalewski thanked his parishioners at Blessed Sacrament, as well as St. Dominic in Panama City, Florida, where he was previously pastor, for always supporting his dual responsibilities.
“Thank you for your support,” he said. “We have to protect those who protect us. So, thank you for allowing me to do that. That means a lot to me.”
Father Zalewski’s remarks were reported by Catholic Extension in an article on its website, www.catholicextension.org.
The priest’s connection to the Chicago-based organization is twofold. He serves on its mission committee, which helps Catholic Extension increase its impact and awareness around the country. He also has involved his parish in raising financial support for various Extension initiatives over the years.
But the priest also was a beneficiary of Extension’s funding of seminary education when he was in formation to be ordained for the Pensacola-Tallahassee Diocese.
Each year, Catholic Extension supports 400 seminarians on their path to the priesthood by providing scholarships that help struggling dioceses pay for seminarian tuition as well as room and board.
After his ordination in 1997, Father Zalewski began serving as a parish priest in his diocese and as a military reserve chaplain at bases in the Florida Panhandle. He would eventually be deployed again in 2008 as a “wing chaplain” to Al-Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, serving military personnel supporting U.S. operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“He knows that the many sacrifices of our service members have created a toll – physical, mental and spiritual,” Catholic Extension said. “Father Zalewski recalls his visits to military bases over these past years where he would encounter young soldiers wearing prosthetics, reminding him of what they gave on the battlefield.
“More troublesome, still, are the wounds that are not visible. Father Zalewski laments that despite many efforts within the services, suicides among military personnel are not decreasing and more needs to be done to stem this tide.”
Father Zalewski said, “It’s been an honor to serve my country in the military, and an honor to serve the Catholic Church in America through Catholic Extension’s mission committee. I see that many of our service members come from rural communities – so Extension is a direct contributor to their spiritual well-being and strength.”
Roughly a quarter of all active-duty military personnel are Catholic, Extension noted, but “as a general, he will serve people regardless of their religious affiliation. … His job will be to ensure that these young, self-sacrificing men and women, who have given so much to our country, have the spiritual care they need.”

Bring Mary’s gratitude and hope into the new year, pope says

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By Justin McLellan
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – On New Year’s Eve, believers and non-believers alike give thanks for all they have received in the last 12 months and express their hopes for the coming year, but Christians are called to cultivate their gratitude and hope following the example of Mary, Pope Francis said.
“Faith enables us to live this hour in a way different than that of a worldly mindset,” the pope said during an evening prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 31. “Faith in Jesus Christ, the incarnated God, born of the Virgin Mary, gives a new way of feeling time and life.”
Pope Francis said that while many people express thanks and hope on New Year’s Eve, in reality, they often “lack the essential dimension which is that of relationship with the Other and with others, with God and with brothers and sisters.”
With a worldly mentality, gratitude and hope are “flattened onto the self, onto one’s interests,” he said. “They don’t go beyond satisfaction and optimism.”
Pope Francis encouraged Christians to look to the example of Mary who, after giving birth to Jesus, had a mother’s gratitude in her heart for bearing the child of God.
“Mystery makes room for gratitude, which surfaces in the contemplation of gift, in gratuitousness, while it suffocates in the anxiety of having and appearing,” the pope said. “The church learns gratitude from the Virgin Mary.”
The pope also said that the hope of Mary and the church “is not optimism, it is something else: it is faith in a God faithful to his promises.”
“This faith takes the form of hope in the dimension of time,” he said. “Christians, like Mary, are pilgrims of hope.”

Pope Francis prays in front of an icon of the “Madonna Lactans” or Nursing Madonna near the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica after an evening prayer service at the Vatican Dec. 31, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Near the basilica’s main altar was an icon of the “Madonna Lactans,” or Nursing Madonna, from the Benedictine Abbey of Montevirgine in Mercogliano, Italy. The icon, in late Byzantine style, shows Mary nursing the infant Jesus. The pope prayed silently before the image before leaving the basilica.
The service culminated with the choir and the 6,500 people present in the basilica singing the “Te Deum” (“We praise you, oh God”) in thanksgiving for the blessings of the past year.
In his homily, Pope Francis noted that the coming year would involve intense preparation for the Holy Year 2025. Yet more than worrying about organizing logistics and events, the pope asked people to be witnesses to “ethical and spiritual quality of coexistence.”
As an example, he pointed out that people of every nationality, culture and religion come together in St. Peter’s Square, so the basilica must be welcoming to all people and provide accessible information.
The pope then praised charm of Rome’s historic center but said it must also be accessible to people with disabilities and the elderly.
Roberto Gualtieri, mayor of Rome, sat in the front of row of the basilica during the prayer service and greeted the pope at its conclusion.
Pope Francis noted that a pilgrimage “requires good preparation,” and recalled that 2024 would be dedicated to prayer before the Holy Year.
“And what better teacher could we have than our holy Mother?” the pope asked. “Let us learn from her to live every day, every moment, every occupation with our inner gaze turned to Jesus.”
After the prayer service, the pope greeted people lined along the basilica’s central nave. Then, riding in his wheelchair, he went outside to pray in front of the Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square, taking his time to wave to visitors, bless children and listen to the Swiss Guard band as it played Christmas carols.

Our over-complex, tortured selves

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IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
When all is said and done, our lives are not all that serene and peaceful. In a manner of speaking, we are always somewhat pathetic. That shouldn’t scare us. Pathetic is not a pejorative term. The word comes from the Greek, pathos, which means pain. To be pathetic is to live in pain, and we all do because of the very way we are made.
You might say that doesn’t sound right. Aren’t we made in the image and likeness of God so that each of us, no matter how messed up our lives might be, carry a special dignity and a certain godliness within us? We do carry that special dignity. However, despite that and largely because of it, our lives tend to be so complex as to be pain filled. Why?

Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI

Godliness isn’t easy to carry. The infinite inside us doesn’t easily fit itself into the finite. We carry too much divine fire inside to find much peace in this life.
That struggle begins early in life. To create a self-identity as a very young child, we need to make a series of mental contractions which ultimately limit our awareness. First, we need to differentiate ourselves from others (That’s mom – I’m me); then, we need to differentiate between what is living and what is not (the puppy is alive – my doll isn’t); next, we need to differentiate between what is physical and what is mental (this is my body – but I think with my mind). Finally, and critically, as we are doing all this, we need split off as much of our luminosity we can consciously handle from what is too much to consciously handle. With that we create a self-identity – but we also create a shadow, namely, an area inside us which is split off from our consciousness.
Notice that our shadow is not first of all a looming darkness. Rather, it’s all the light and energy inside us that we cannot consciously handle. Most of us, I suspect, are familiar with the words of Marianne Williamson made famous by Nelson Mandela in his inauguration speech: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
Our light frightens us because it is not easy to carry. It gives us great dignity and infinite depth, but it also makes us pathologically complex and restless. Ruth Burrows, one of the foremost spiritual writers of our time, begins her autobiography with these words: I was born into this world with a tortured sensitivity and my life has not been an easy one. You wouldn’t expect those words from a mystic, from someone who has been a faithful nun for more than seventy-five years. You wouldn’t expect that her struggle in life was as much with the light within herself as with the darkness within and around her. That’s also true for each of us.
There’s a famous passage in the Book of Qoheleth where the sacred writer tells us that God has made everything beautiful in its own time. However, the passage doesn’t end on a peaceful note. It ends by telling us that, while God has made everything beautiful in its own time, God has put timelessness into the human heart so that we are congenitally out of sync with time and the seasons from beginning to end. Both our special dignity and our pathological complexity take their origins in that anomaly in our nature. We are overcharged for life on this planet.
St. Augustine gave this classic expression in his famous line: You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. There is an entire anthropology and spirituality in that single line. Our dignity and our perpetual restlessness have one and the same source.
Thus, you need to give yourself sacred permission for being wild of heart, restless of heart, insatiable of heart, complex of heart and driven of heart. Too often, where both psychology and spirituality have failed you is in giving you the impression that you should be living without chaos and restlessness in your life. Admittedly, these can beset you more acutely because of moral inadequacy, but they will beset you no matter how good a life you are living. Indeed, if you are a deeply sensitive person, you will probably feel your complexity more acutely than if you are less sensitive or are deadening your sensitivity with distractions.
Karl Rahner once wrote to a friend who had written to him complaining that he wasn’t finding the fulfillment he longed for in life. His friend expressed disappointment with himself, his marriage and his job. Rahner gave him this counsel: In the torment of the insufficiency of everything attainable, we ultimately learn that in this life there is no finished symphony.
There can be no finished symphony in this life – not because our souls are defective, but because they carry godliness.

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

Late Pope Benedict remembered on first anniversary of his death

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By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – As an expression of ongoing affection and gratitude for the late Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis led tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square in a round of applause for his predecessor on the first anniversary of his death.
“A year ago, Pope Benedict XVI concluded his earthly journey after having served the church with love and wisdom,” Pope Francis told an estimated 20,000 people gathered in the square for the midday recitation of the Angelus prayer Dec. 31.
Pope Benedict, who led the church from 2005 to 2013, died Dec. 31, 2022, at the age of 95.
“We feel so much affection, gratitude and admiration for him,” the pope said. “From heaven, he blesses and accompanies us.”

Before the Angelus, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Pope Benedict’s former personal secretary, presided over a memorial Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica. German Cardinal Gerhard Müller and Swiss Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, concelebrated the liturgy.
In his homily, the archbishop shared some of Pope Benedict’s meditations on the readings for the day’s feast, the feast of the Holy Family. Several times his voice broke with emotion remembering the pope he lived with and served.
Looking at how prayer was an essential part of the life of Mary and Joseph, Archbishop Gänswein quoted Pope Benedict’s last Angelus address, just days before his resignation went into effect, when he explained:
“The Lord is calling me ‘to scale the mountain,’ to devote myself even more to prayer and meditation. But this does not mean abandoning the church; indeed, if God asks me this it is precisely so that I may continue to serve her with the same dedication and the same love with which I have tried to do so until now, but in a way more suited to my age and strength.”
In the same way, the archbishop said, prayer marks the rhythm of the life of the church, “which is the great family of God.”
As the retired pope aged, he said, his life – with a growing intensity and interiority – became more focused on prayer.
Born Joseph Ratzinger, he tried to model his life on St. Joseph, the archbishop said. It could be seen in his intimacy with the Lord and with the people around him, “relationships distinguished by great courtesy, humility and simplicity.”

Called by Name

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I am pleased to announce that we have a new seminarian who will be starting his formation this month. Joe Pearson is a native of Flora and attended St. Richard Elementary, St. Joseph Middle and High School, Co-Lin Community College and the University of Mississippi. He graduated from Ole Miss in December and decided to apply to enter the seminary. I have known Joe since he was in high school and am very proud that he is taking this step in his journey with the Lord. Joe knows that his decision to enter the seminary is not a decision to become a priest, but rather it is a decision to discern fully whether or not the Lord is calling him to be a priest.

Father Nick Adam

The seminary is the place where men who have the maturity and the desire go to know their vocation. The guys who enter do not know for sure that they will be ordained. They literally cannot know for sure because they are not the only ones who are making the decision. The church discerns with the man as well, and it’s my job as vocation director to help our seminarians discover their particular path. I am very happy with the group that we have studying for our diocese. I believe that each of our seminarians was called to the seminary and will become who they are called to be by the Lord, whether they get ordained or not.
Over the Christmas holidays I’ve been blessed to host three of our seminarians here at the Cathedral Rectory: Will Foggo, Wilson Locke and Francisco Maldonado. Will is one of our senior-most seminarians while Wilson and Francisco just started back in August. We had a great time and I believe that the best way to prepare men for the priesthood is to give them a realistic look at what being a priest is like. They were able to participate in various events from meetings to parties, but they also have blessed our Catholic community by their witness and their talents. Will and Francisco visited two of our elementary schools and Wilson and I will visit Sr. Thea Bowman School in January before he goes back to seminary. All of them have assisted with Masses and helped with parish activities as well.
One testament to the quality of our seminarians is the feedback that I receive from the community. Wilson and I have been going to a local gym downtown to exercise in the afternoon. One of the employees shared with me how impressed he was by Wilson’s witness when he had a brief conversation with him one day. I am grateful for our seminarians and ask you to continue praying for all of them as they embark on another semester of formation.

Father Nick Adam, vocation director

(Father Nick Adam can be contacted at nick.adam@jacksondiocese.org.)

New seminarian, Joe Pearson pictured with Father Mark Shoffner outside St. John parish in Oxford. (Photo courtesy Father Nick Adam)

In memoriam: Sister M. KristinRever, OP

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Dominican Sister M. Kristin Rever died Dec. 27, 2023, at St. John’s Hospital in Springfield. She was born in 1942, in Assumption, Illinois, to John H. and Wanda M. [Nee: Simpson] Rever who gave her the name Kay Frances. She was baptized at Assumption BVM, Assumption, Illinois, and in 1962 made her profession of vows at Sacred Heart Convent.

Sister M. Kristin taught elementary school for 19 years at parochial schools in Chicago, Matteson, and Newton, Illinois, and in Duluth, Minnesota. After study, she began ministry as a respiratory therapist, serving in that capacity intermittently at St. Dominic Hospital, Jackson, Mississippi, for a total of 14 years and at St. Mary-Rogers Memorial Hospital, Rogers, Arkansas, for two. While in Jackson she also served in the development office for St. Catherine’s Village, and as pastoral visitor at St. Catherine’s Village, 2006-2019.
She remained deeply committed to the healing ministry of Jesus in all of her healthcare assignments. She frequently volunteered as pastoral visitor in parishes and worked in parish healthcare in Springfield.
Sister M. Kristin was preceded in death by her parents and her brother John. She is survived by her nephew Robert Rever and niece Rhonda Beck, both of Taylorville, Illinois, her nephew John Rever, Omaha, Nebraska, and many dear cousins.
Memorials to honor the memory of Sister M. Kristin may be made to the Dominican Sisters Retirement Fund, 1237 W. Monroe St., Springfield, IL, 62704.

Celebrating the legacy of MLK, Jr. and Sister Thea Bowman

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By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
Coming out of the splendor of the Christmas season with the culminating feasts of the Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord, we now return to ordinary time to remain steadfast in the work of the Lord to announce the Good News of Salvation, and the presence of the Kingdom of God, the work of conversion, and of justice, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)
The feast of the Epiphany, the manifestation of Jesus Christ to all nations, inspired us to follow the radiance of the Gospel while circumventing the power and pull of evil in our world, as did the Magi in eluding King Herod. The Baptism of the Lord inspires us as God’s children, baptized into the life-giving death and resurrection of God’s beloved Son, to hear the call of the Lord and to put it into practice as his disciples. With the Holy Spirit as out guide we pray and dedicate ourselves to the will of God “on earth as it is in heaven.” The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the foretaste and promise of glory (2Corinthians 5:5), raising us beyond the horizon of this world to the vision of eternal life.

Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.

The national holiday this weekend offers us the bonus of an additional day away from many of our offices and workplaces and much more in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. At our Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle, we are going to mark this occasion in an extra special way with an additional Mass on Sunday afternoon honoring the legacy and witness of King and of our own Sister Thea Bowman, Servant of God. They were not exactly contemporaries of one another, yet they breathed the same air with the same passion for civil rights, for freedom, justice and equality for all of God’s children.
When Martin Luther King Jr. was slain in Memphis in April 1968, Sister Thea was pursuing an advanced degree at Catholic University in Washington DC. She would take up the torch for the next 20 years until her untimely death. They were committed disciples of the Lord Jesus, MLK, Jr. a Baptist, and Bowman, a Catholic, who like the Magi were inspired to live by the light of faith and the power of the Gospel.
When Pope Francis spoke to the United States Congress in 2015, he honored King as a prophetic voice for our nation’s conscience, along with Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day and Abraham Lincoln. As a national icon, Martin Luther King Jr. is a Christian prophet whose life and violent death challenge us to resist the many-sided faces of evil nonviolently. His witness still confronts us today to turn away from the sins of racism, and unbridled materialism and militarism.
On the other hand, Sister Thea is not as well known nationally but her life, cut short by cancer, also rises to the distinction of prophetic witness. She labored untiringly in the vineyard of the Lord for greater justice and peace with a passion securely anchored in the joy of the Holy Spirit. Her cause for canonization continues to gain traction in our Catholic world around our nation, while the Diocese of Jackson works behind the scenes to fulfill the requirements to move the cause forward. For example, in the recent past the diocese sponsored a documentary on her amazing life, entitled “Going Home Like a Shooting Star.” (https://bit.ly/SisterTheaFilm) Later this spring we will unveil a life-size bronze statue of Sister Thea to be nestled in the cathedral until a shrine is built in a permanent location in the diocese.
In conclusion, allow the words of these two spiritual giants to capture our imagination and vision for living.

“Everyone does not have access. When I say that, I mean that Martin Luther King Jr. was demonstrating for the rights of the poor, he was demonstrating for fair and decent housing, he was demonstrating for opportunities for adequate education. And not just adequate educational opportunity for blacks, but for all children. He was demonstrating for a land where we could love another as brothers and sisters and work together for a solution to our common problems.” (Sister Thea Bowman)
“Love yourself, if that means rational, healthy, and moral self-interest. You are commanded to do that. That is the length of life. Love your neighbor as yourself. You are commanded to do that. This is the breath of life. But never forget that there is even a greater and first commandment, ‘Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind.’ This is the height of life. And when you do this, you live the complete life.” (MLK, Jr.)