Angelus News | January 10, 2020 | Vol. 5 No. 1

ANGELUS 

CHURCH DOCTORS 

FOR A NEW DECADE 

The ancient wisdom we need for the 2020s 

January 10, 2020 Vol. 5 No. 1

A Very Special 2020 Pilgrimage to the Holy Land 

October 26 – November 5 

Walk in the Footsteps of Jesus with 

Archbishop José H. Gomez & Spiritual Leaders 

Bishop David O’Connell, Msgr. Antonio Cacciapuoti, 

Rev. Jim Anguiano and Rev. Parker Sandoval 

Under the Direction of Judy Brooks, Archbishop’s Office of Special Services 

Please join us for an important 

Pilgrimage Information Meeting 

Sunday, January 26, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. 

The Cathedral Conference Center 

555 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 

All are Welcome! 

Garden of Gethsemane 

For Information Call Mary Kay: (213) 637-7520 

Travel Arrangements through Catholic Travel Centre 

Church of the Holy Sepulchree 

Church of the Beatitudes

ON THE COVER 

St. Gregory of Narek and St. Irenaeus of Lyon. Ever 

heard of them before? Starting on Page 10, contributing 

editor Mike Aquilina interviews a scholar who 

sheds light on why one was named a “doctor of the 

Church” last year; on Page 14, he explains the case 

for why the other should be next. 

IMAGE: 

A young woman looks on during Benediction at SLS20, the annual 

national event for the Catholic apostolate FOCUS (Fellowship 

of Catholic University Students) held in Phoenix, Arizona, 

Jan. 1-3. Nearly 9,000 people registered for the event, with 

special guests including Archbishop Christoph Pierre, apostolic 

nuncio to the U.S., and numerous speakers and bishops. 

JACOB POPCAK 

FELLOWSHIP OF CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY STUDENTS 

Contents 

Archbishop Gomez 3 

World, Nation, and Local News 4-6 

LA Catholic Events 7 

Scott Hahn on Scripture 8 

Father Rolheiser 9 

Archbishop celebrates a family Christmas with inmates 16 

Catholic doctor family trades Connecticut for Ghana 20 

What to expect at OneLife LA this month 22 

John Allen: How anti-Semitic attacks affect Catholics 24 

Is it possible to be ‘patron saint of nothing?’ 26 

Ruben Navarrette: A New Year’s resolution for California 28 

The gospel case for Netflix’s ‘Marriage Story’ 30 

Heather King goes to (not a Catholic) church in Koreatown 32 

January 10, 2020 • ANGELUS • 1

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January 10, 2020 

Vol. 5 • No. 1 

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(213) 637-7360 • FAX (213) 637-6360 — Published 

by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles 

by The Tidings (a corporation), established 1895. 

Publisher 

ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ 

Vice Chancellor for Communications 

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POPE WATCH 

The person priority 

Health care professionals always 

must “promote the dignity and life of 

each person and reject any compromise 

in the direction of euthanasia, 

assisted suicide, or suppression of life, 

even in the case of terminal illness,” 

Pope Francis said in a message to 

health care professionals released Jan. 

3 by the Vatican. 

“Life is sacred and belongs to God, 

hence it is inviolable, and no one can 

claim the right to dispose of it freely,” 

the pope said in his annual message 

for the celebration of World Day of 

the Sick, which is marked Feb. 11, the 

feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. 

To people suffering from illness in 

body or mind, the pope offered words 

of hope and encouragement, assuring 

them of Jesus’ closeness and his promise 

to alleviate their burdens. 

“Jesus does not make demands of 

those who endure situations of frailty, 

suffering, and weakness, but offers his 

mercy and his comforting presence,” 

the pope said. 

Jesus “looks upon a wounded humanity 

with eyes that gaze into the 

heart of each person,” he said. “That 

gaze is not one of indifference; rather, 

it embraces people in their entirety, 

each person in his or her health condition, 

discarding no one, but rather 

inviting everyone to share in his life 

and to experience his tender love.” 

In Jesus, the pope said, those who are 

sick “will find strength to face all the 

worries and questions that assail you 

during this ‘dark night’ of body and 

soul.” 

And, he said, within the Church 

they should find welcome, concern, 

and gentle care, “a home where you 

can encounter his grace, which finds 

expression in closeness, acceptance 

and relief.” 

In a section of the message addressed 

to physicians, nurses, and other health 

professionals, Pope Francis urged 

them to “remember that diagnostic, 

preventive, and therapeutic treatments, 

research, care, and rehabilitation 

are always in the service of the 

sick person; indeed the noun ‘person’ 

takes priority over the adjective ‘sick.’ ” 

Catholic health care professionals 

“can make patients feel the presence 

of Christ, who consoles and cares for 

the sick and heals every hurt. 

“Life must be welcomed, protected, 

respected, and served from its beginning 

to its end: both human reason 

and faith in God, the author of life, 

require this,” Pope Francis said. 

Sometimes, he told Catholic health 

workers, “conscientious objection 

becomes a necessary decision if you 

are to be consistent with your yes to 

life and to the human person.” 

Like all Christians, he said, they 

must safeguard “the truest human 

right, the right to life.” 

And, the pope told them, “when you 

can no longer provide a cure, you will 

still be able to provide care and healing, 

through gestures and procedures 

that give comfort and relief to the sick.” 

Pope Francis also urged governments 

to do more to ensure that all their 

citizens, especially the poor, have 

access to quality medical care, and 

he thanked “volunteers who serve the 

sick, often compensating for structural 

shortcomings, while reflecting the image 

of Christ, the good Samaritan, by 

their acts of tender love and closeness.” 

Reporting courtesy of Cindy Wooden, 

Catholic News Service Rome bureau 

chief. 

Papal Prayer Intention for January: That Christians, followers of other religions, 

and all people of goodwill may promote peace and justice in the world. 

2 • ANGELUS • January 10, 2020

NEW WORLD 

OF FAITH 

BY ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ 

OneLife LA 2020 

I am excited for our sixth annual 

walk for life and family festival. One- 

Life LA is set to take place this year on 

Saturday, Jan. 18. 

At noon we will gather at the heart 

of downtown, La Placita Church on 

Olvera Street, and make the one-mile 

walk to Los Angeles State Historic 

Park, proclaiming the beauty and dignity 

of every human life from conception 

to natural death. 

This year again, OneLife LA will 

feature a variety of inspiring musical 

artists and speakers highlighting our 

theme, “One Mission, One Family.” 

Our keynote speaker, Cyntoia 

Brown-Long, is a sex-trafficking victim 

and passionate advocate for reforming 

our criminal justice system. 

She was born into a broken home to 

a teenage alcoholic mother. She ran 

away as a teenager and eventually was 

forced into prostitution. At the age 

of 16, she was sent to jail for life for 

murdering a man who solicited her 

and whom she said later threatened to 

kill her. 

Brown-Long turned her life around 

in prison, finding Jesus Christ, and after 

15 years in prison her sentence was 

commuted by Tennessee’s governor. 

She walked free this past August. 

Her story is sad and it reflects the 

reality of so many troubled girls and 

young women caught up in our prison 

system today, victims of addiction, 

abuse, and exploitation. 

But what makes Brown-Long’s story 

so powerful and hopeful for me is 

that she testifies to the truth that God 

never abandons any soul. 

God loves us no matter what. If we 

have done something wrong, he loves 

us even stronger, and he calls us to get 

even closer to him. There is no soul 

that he does not want to bring to his 

mercy, to his freedom. 

This year, we are also making our 

first OneLife LA Service Award to 

honor those in our community who 

are making a difference in spreading 

this beautiful message of God’s deep 

love for every one of his children. 

We are honoring a local woman, Jess 

Echeverry. Along with her husband, 

she runs SOFESA, a nearly 20-yearold 

outreach to homeless and poor 

families in Los Angeles. 

Echeverry also has a powerful story, 

having spent years on the streets 

homeless, suffering addiction and 

abuse. And she, too, testifies to the 

power of Jesus to heal and save and 

transform our lives. 

OneLife LA is not an event, it is a 

movement. It is a movement of love 

that sees in every person the beauty of 

God’s creation, a child of God. 

This is why we walk to promote the 

dignity of the child in the womb and 

the child who needs foster care. We 

walk for the homeless and hungry, the 

prisoner and the sick, the immigrant 

and refugee, and for every person that 

our society or economy cannot find a 

place for. 

We need to restore the dignity of 

the human person in our society and 

reawaken the awareness that the only 

purpose of any healthy society is to 

serve the human person and bring 

about the flourishing of every human 

life. 

OneLife LA is about renewing the 

“human ecology” that in God connects 

us with one another and with 

all that he created. There is a sanctity 

to life and a dignity that can never be 

denied, no matter the stage of life or 

the condition of life. 

And there is much that we need to 

do. Still children in our country are 

killed each day in the womb, and 

many of our neighbors do not have 

what they need to lead a dignified life. 

The continued reality of abortion in 

our city and in our country is a true 

tragedy. In fact, we gather for OneLife 

LA to remember the sad day — January 

22, 1973 — when the U.S. Supreme 

Court made abortion legal. 

And while OneLife LA is a celebration, 

we remain mindful that we have 

a duty to protect innocent human life, 

which is threatened by abortion and 

euthanasia, and to build a society that 

cherishes life and supports mothers, 

families, the elderly, and those with 

disabilities. 

This year again, as is our tradition, 

our OneLife LA celebration will be 

followed by our annual Requiem Mass 

for the Unborn, which will be held at 

5 p.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady 

of the Angels. 

This Mass is a beautiful witness to 

the lives that are lost each year in Los 

Angeles through abortion. It is also a 

source of hope and grace for women 

and men who have experienced in 

any way the pain of abortion. 

Pray for me this week and I will pray 

for you. And please join me on Saturday, 

Jan. 18, and bring your family 

and friends. 

And let us ask the Blessed Virgin 

Mary, the Mother of Fair Love, to be 

with us in this great movement for 

life. 

To read more columns by Archbishop José H. Gomez or to subscribe, visit www.angelusnews.com. 


WORLD 

ANDREW CRAFT/GETTY IMAGES 

‘Anxiety’ for Christians 

after drone strikes in Iraq 

While the senior Iranian military 

leader killed by a U.S. drone strike in 

Iraq Jan. 3 was no friend to Christians 

in the Middle East, experts worry 

about what’s next for Christian communities 

in the area. 

“General [Qasem] Soleimani and 

his Quds Force, a unit in Iran’s Revolutionary 

Guards (IRGC), wreaked 

havoc on Christians and others in 

Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and Syria for 

decades. We pray his passing will 

mark the end of an era of terrorism 

and instability,” Peter Burns, director 

of government relations and policy at 

In Defense of Christians, told Catholic 

News Agency Jan. 3. 

But many fear that Christian populations 

may be put at an increased 

risk of terrorism and other attacks in 

the aftermath of the killing of Soleimani 

and other targeted U.S. bombings 

in recent weeks. 

“We prayed during the days of 

Christmas for peace on earth, and the 

timing of this revenge from America 

creates in us a big anxiety about what 

will happen,” Chaldean Catholic 

Archbishop Yousif Thomas Mirkis 

of Kirkuk, Iraq, told Catholic News 

Service by phone. 

U.S. troops from the Army’s 82nd Airborne 

Division prepare for deployment to the Middle 

East on Jan. 4 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. 

Approximately 3,000 troops are being 

deployed as tensions increase with Iran in the 

region. 

Archaeologists uncover ancient church in Ethiopia 

Archaeologists 

have 

unearthed the 

remains of a 

fourth-century 

church 

in northern 

Ethiopia they 

believe sheds 

light on the 

beginnings of 

Christianity in 

Africa. 

Radiocarbon 

dating suggests 

the basilica 

was built in the 

fourth century 

A.D., right 

around when Emperor Constantine 

legalized Christianity in the Roman 

Empire. This makes it the oldest 

Christian church to be found in 

sub-Saharan Africa. 

The basilica stands about 30 miles 

from Aksum, the capital of the 

trading empire Aksumite kingdom. 

Historians believe that the trade 

routes helped the gospel message 

travel great distances over a short 

period of time. 

Netflix blasphemy backlash in Brazil 

A recent Christmas special on Netflix 

has sparked massive backlash for 

irreverant satire, including portraying 

Jesus as homosexual and Mary as a 

marijuana-smoking, illicit lover. 

The Brazilian special, “The First 

Temptation,” centers around Jesus 

returning home from the desert for 

his 30th birthday. But he also brings 

along with him an effeminate male 

character named Orlando, who 

strongly implies that the two had a 

sexual encounter in the desert. 

In response, multiple online campaigns 

have been launched in protest 

against Netflix for the film. 

A stone pendant with a cross and the term “venerable” in Ethiopia’s 

ancient Ge’ez script found outside the eastern basilica wall. 

The excavation could help clarify 

the origins of Christianity in the 

Ethiopian region, which has long 

been debated. 

“This is what makes the discovery 

of this basilica so important,” 

professor of Semitic and Egyptian 

languages Aaron Butts told Smithsonian 

Magazine. “It is reliable 

evidence for a Christian presence 

slightly northeast of Aksum at a 

very early date.” 

One of them has garnered nearly 2 

million signatures. Catholic leaders, 

including some bishops, have encouraged 

faithful to cancel their Netflix 

subscriptions. 

“We support freedom of expression, 

but is it worth attacking the faith of 

86% of the population?” tweeted Eduardo 

Bolsonaro, son of the president 

of Brazil, referring to Brazil’s majority 

Christian population. 

In another tweet, evangelical pastor 

Marco Feliciano urged Christians and 

all people of goodwill to stand against 

such blasphemous content. “United 

we are strong!” he wrote. 

IOANA DUMITRU/ANTIQUITY 


NATION 

Crop-duster blessings in Louisiana 

A parish in Louisiana took the idea of raining blessings 

from above to another level this Christmas. 

Parishioners of St. Anne’s Church in Cow Island, 

Louisiana, and their pastor, Father Matthew Barzare, coordinated 

with a local crop-dusting service to have holy 

water sprayed Dec. 21 over the town and nearby farms. 

Parishioners gathered for Mass first and then participated 

in a brief prayer service, where the plane and the 

water gathered by local Catholics were blessed before 

going airborne. 

“It’s one of those ways to ask God’s blessing upon our 

community, upon our land. We’re very much tied to our 

land in Louisiana,” Father Barzare, 32, told Catholic 

News Service. 

The timing of the flight matched the timetable of when 

priests traditionally bless farmlands in southern Louisiana. 

 

Father Matthew Barzare with parishioners next to the crop duster that 

had 100 gallons of holy water on it to bless the nearby farms and town. 

DIOCESE OF LAFAYETTE 

Pro-lifers call up the suffragette stance 

Organizers of the Jan. 24 annual 

March for Life in Washington, D.C., 

hope to echo the pro-life message of 

the women’s right to vote movement. 

This year’s theme, “Life empowers: 

Pro-Life is Pro-Woman,” focuses on 

the harms abortion inflicts on women 

and the pro-life stance of the original 

feminists. 

The event’s promotional video 

emphasized that some of the most 

A cardinal’s message 

in Mississippi 

A Guatemalan cardinal traveled to 

Mississippi over the holidays to show 

solidarity with families affected by 

immigration raids. 

Cardinal Álvaro Ramazzini of Huehuetenango 

visited Catholics from 

communities hit hard by the raids 

and arrests at seven food processing 

plants in August, which resulted in 

the arrests of 680 people. Many of the 

immigrants are from Guatemala. 

Cardinal Ramazzini told faithful 

that those who don’t practice what 

they preach and support the least 

prominent suffragettes, including 

Susan B. Anthony and Alice Paul, 

were staunchly against abortion. Paul, 

who drafted the original Equal Rights 

Amendment, called it “the ultimate 

exploitation of women.” 

“The power we have now and 

the rights that were afforded us are 

because of great women,” the video 

declares. “Let’s fight like them and be 

a voice for the voiceless.” 

Cardinal Álvaro Ramazzini visits faithful in Carthage, 

Mississippi. 

should “declare themselves as atheists, 

unbelievers. 

“That would be more honest instead 

of saying I’m a Christian and not 

being able to recognize Christ in their 

neighbor,” he said. 

RICH KALONICK/CATHOLIC EXTENSION 

Lawmakers urge Supreme 

Court to reconsider 

Roe v. Wade 

More than 200 senators and congressmen 

have signed an amicus 

brief in defense of Lousiana’s abortion 

regulation law. 

Louisiana’s law, the Unsafe Abortion 

Protection Act, would require 

clinics where surgical abortions are 

performed to have the same safety 

standards as other outpatient surgical 

centers. The act was signed into law 

in 2014 but immediately challenged 

in court. 

In the brief, the lawmakers call the 

“right to abortion” that the cases Roe 

v. Wade and Planned Parenthood 

v. Casey established “unworkable” 

and urge the Court to “again take 

up the issue of whether Roe and 

Casey should be reconsidered and, if 

appropriate, overruled.” 

House Republican Whip Steve 

Scalise of Louisiana, one of the leaders 

of the brief, says he’s “proud to 

lead the fight in Congress defending 

Louisiana’s pro-life law.” 

The Supreme Court will hear 

arguments regarding the law this 

March. 


LOCAL 

Clerical competition, round two 

The 2nd Annual Priests vs. Seminarians Basketball 

Game is coming to a gym near you. 

The game, slated for Feb. 7 at Chaminade College 

Preparatory School in Chatsworth, will feature seminarians 

from St. John’s in Camarillo and Queen of Angels 

Center in Gardena, and priests from throughout the 

archdiocese. 

Team Seminarians will be looking to defend its title after 

a dominant 47-32 victory in 2019, while Team Priests 

hopes the rematch will give it bragging rights for the next 

year. 

“It’s a wonderful way to introduce the seminarians [to] 

what’s best about our camaraderie and brotherhood in 

the priesthood,” said hoopster and former LA Auxiliary 

Bishop Joseph Brennan after last year’s game. 

Ticket prices range from $5 to $10, with all proceeds 

Team Priests huddles during last year’s game. 

going to support vocations in the Archdiocese of Los 

Angeles. More information is available at archla.org/ 

basketball20. 

DIMA OTVERTCHENKO/ANGELUS 

Abuse lawsuit window opens in California 

More lawsuits over childhood sexual 

abuse by priests are expected after 

California’s statute of limitations for 

abuse victims was lifted on the first 

day of the year. 

The three-year window was authorized 

when California Gov. Gavin 

Newsom signed Assembly Bill 218 

into law in October 2019. In addition 

to the window, the bill also permanently 

adjusted the state’s statute of 

limitations for civil suits regarding 

childhood sexual abuse. 

Previously, a person had until the 

age of 26, or three years after discov- 

ering damages from sexual abuse, 

to file a claim. The state now allows 

plaintiffs to file lawsuits until the age 

of 40, or five years after discovering 

damage. 

“Ultimately, our hope is that all 

victim-survivors of childhood sexual 

abuse in all institutional settings 

will be able to have their pain and 

suffering addressed and resolved,” said 

Andy Rivas, executive director of the 

California Catholic Conference, in 

an October statement. “Our prayers 

are that AB 218 will be a step forward 

in that direction.” 

THOMAS WURTZ/VARSITY CATHOLIC 

PRO MISSIONARIES — LA native and former 

Bishop Amat High School soccer standout Yazmin 

(Montoya) Gutierrez poses with Chargers quarterback 

Philip Rivers and his youngest child Anna at 

SLS20, the annual national event for the Catholic 

apostolate FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University 

Students) held in Phoenix, Arizona, Dec. 30-Jan. 3. 

Gutierrez, who left a promising collegiate soccer 

career behind to be a missionary, serves with her 

husband, Leonard, as a Varsity FOCUS missionary at 

Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. 

A president’s plea for peace 

In his first major message as president 

of the U.S. Conference of Catholic 

Bishops, Los Angeles Archbishop 

José H. Gomez called on world 

leaders to place protecting religious 

freedom and freedom of conscience as 

their top priorities. 

“It needs to be said that violence 

in the name of God is blasphemy,” 

said the archbishop in a statement 

marking the 53rd World Day of Peace 

on Jan. 1. “The rise of anti-Semitic 

violence in this country and around 

the world must be condemned along 

with the ongoing persecution of 

Christians.” 

Mentioning recent examples of 

anti-religious violence, including the 

church attack in Texas, the stabbing 

rampage at a New York Hanukkah 

party, and the beheading of Christians 

in Nigeria, Archbishop Gomez 

said that the humanity of Jesus made 

present by his birth “calls us to love 

one another as he loves us, with no 

exceptions.” 


LA Catholic Events 

Items for LA Catholic Events are due two weeks prior to the date of the event. They may be mailed to Angelus News (Attn: LA Catholic Events), 3424 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90010-2241; emailed to 

calendar@angelusnews.com; or faxed to 213-637-6360. All items must include the name, date, time, and address of the event, plus a phone number for additional information. 

Fri., Jan. 10 

Movie Screening: “Gosnell.” St. Lawrence Martyr 

Hall, 1940 S. Prospect Ave., Redondo Beach, 7 p.m. 

Hosted by St. Lawrence Martyr Respect Life Group, 

“Gosnell” describes the practices and trial of Dr. 

Kermit Gosnell, late-term abortionist convicted of 

first-degree murder. Free viewing; goodwill donations 

appreciated. For more information, call Deacon Dale 

Sheckler at 310-678-2583 or email dalesheckler@ 

gmail.com. 

Sat., Jan. 11 

Welcoming Mary in This New Year. Holy Spirit 

Retreat Center, 4316 Lanai Rd., Encino, 9:30 a.m.- 

3 p.m. Welcome 2020 with Mary and discover new 

meaning in her model of spiritual and secular life. 

Bring a favorite image of Mary for prayer altar, and 

journal and pen instead of electronic devices. Cost: 

$50/person and includes lunch, $40/person without. 

Christ Cathedral and Sistine Chapel Exhibit. Bus 

leaves from Holy Trinity Church, 1292 W. Santa Cruz 

St., San Pedro, 12-8 p.m. Plunge into the universe of 

Michelangelo — see the Sistine Chapel Exhibit and 

attend Mass at Christ Cathedral. Cost: $45/person 

(includes bus, bottled water, tips, and exhibit entrance 

fees). Dinner at South Coast Plaza (not included in 

cost). RSVP to Virginia Brumm at 310-832-2164. 

Foster Care and Adoption Information Meeting. 

Children’s Bureau, 1529 E. Palmdale Blvd., Ste. 210, 

Palmdale, or Children’s Bureau’s Carson office, 460 

East Carson Plaza Dr., Ste. 102, Carson, or Andrew’s 

Plaza, 11335 West Magnolia Blvd., Ste. 2C, North 

Hollywood, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Discover if you have the 

willingness, ability, and resources to take on the challenge 

of helping a child in need. RSVP or learn more 

by calling 213-342-0162, toll free at 800-730-3933, 

or by emailing RFrecruitment@all4kids.org. 

Mon., Jan. 13 

Mass and Healing Service. St. Rose of Lima Church, 

1305 Royal Ave., Simi Valley, 7 p.m. Celebrant: Father 

Luis Estrada. Call 805-526-1732. 

Tue., Jan. 14 

Dawn Unity Group-Interfaith Discovery Series: 

Disputes in My Religion. Congregation Ner Tamid, 

5721 Crestridge Rd., Rancho Palos Verdes, 7:30 p.m. 

Panelists Rev. Jonathan Chute of Rolling Hills United 

Methodist Church, Rabbi Brian Schuldenfrei of 

Congregation Ner Tamid, and Rt. Rev. Alexei Smith, 

Ecumenical and Interreligious Officer of the Archdiocese 

of Los Angeles, will discuss the internal dispute 

over ordination of gay and lesbian clergy in the United 

Methodist Church. Free event, open to the public. 

Email Father Smith at FrARSmith@la-archdiocese. 

org. 

Thu., Jan. 16 

St. Monica Academy Grade School Open House. 

2361 Del Mar Rd., Montrose, 7 p.m. Meet teachers, 

students, and parents, and see a unique classical 

education at work. For more information, call 818- 

396-7310 or email admissions@stmonicaacademy. 

com. 

Fri., Jan. 17 

Infertility, Pregnancy, and Infant Loss Awareness 

Mass. St. John Baptist de la Salle Church, 

16555 Chatsworth St., Granada Hills, 6 p.m. Mass of 

remembrance for all those suffering. Light refreshments 

to follow in St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Hall. 

Sat., Jan. 18 

Healing the Family Tree: Praying for Our Loved 

Ones, Living and Deceased. St. John Eudes Church 

Hall, 99011 Mason Ave., Chatsworth, 10 a.m.-4:30 

p.m. Led by Father Michael Barry, SSCC, and Dominic 

Berardino, topics include: “Why is it Important 

to Pray for the Deceased,” and “Breaking Bondages 

over Generations.” Mass for healing the family tree 

included. Cost: $25/person; bring lunch or dine at 

nearby restaurants. Email SCRC at spirit@scrc.org, 

call 818-771-1361, or visit www.scrc.org. 

Vatican International Exhibition of Eucharistic 

Miracles of the World. Pauline Books & Media, 3908 

Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., 3-6 

p.m. Display and presentation of scientific studies, 

miracle stories, and the scriptural basis for our belief 

in the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist will be 

given at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Free event, open to the 

public. Call 310-397-8676. 

OneLife LA Youth Rally. 11 a.m. March begins at 

12:30 p.m. Join Archbishop José H. Gomez for the 

sixth annual celebration of the beauty and dignity 

of every human life, beginning at La Placita Church, 

Olvera Street, and ending at LA State Historic Park. 

Festival features entertainment, food trucks, live music, 

and speeches. Visit onelifela.org. 

Requiem Mass for the Unborn. Cathedral of Our 

Lady of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, 5 

p.m. Celebrant: Archbishop José H. Gomez. 

Foster Care and Adoption Information Meeting. 

Children’s Bureau, 27200 Tourney Rd., Ste. 175, 

Valencia, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Discover if you have the 

willingness, ability, and resources to take on the challenge 

of helping a child in need. RSVP or learn more 

by calling 213-342-0162, toll free at 800-730-3933, 

or by emailing RFrecruitment@all4kids.org. 

Silent Saturday Retreat. Holy Spirit Retreat Center, 

4316 Lanai Rd., Encino, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Join others 

for a quiet morning of Centering Prayer and silence. 

Day includes communal prayer, contemplative walk, 

private journaling, and reflection. Open to all; freewill 

offerings accepted. Call Amanda Berg at 818-815- 

4480. 

A Call to New Life with the Holy Spirit Seminar. 

1001 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Registration 

starts at 8:30 a.m. Free. For information or 

registration, call 818-421-1354 or email hojprayergroup@gmail.com. 

Sun., Jan. 19 

Pechanga Resort and Casino Trip. Our Lady of Perpetual 

Help Church, 23233 Lyons Ave., Newhall, 8 

a.m. Bus returns at 6 p.m. Cost: $25/person, prepaid 

and includes coffee, donuts, and casino credit of $5 

per person. Birthdays will be celebrated on the way 

home. RSVP to Anna Riggs at 661-645-7877. 

The Feast of Santo Niño. Cathedral of Our Lady of 

the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, 3:30 p.m. 

Thirty-third annual celebration hosted by Santo Niño 

Cruzada. Principal celebrant: Bishop Alex D. Aclan. 

Bring your Santo Niño statues for a special blessing. 

Daily novena: Jan. 11-19. 

Second Annual Santo Niño (Infant Jesus) Feast 

Day Celebration. St. Charles Borromeo Church, 

10800 Moorpark St., North Hollywood, 1 p.m. Celebrant: 

Father Jose Magana. Hosted by the Filipino-American 

Ministry. Bring Santo Niño statues for 

special blessings and prayer requests. 

Mon., Jan. 20 

St. Padre Pio Healing Mass. St. Anne Church, 340 

10th St., Seal Beach, 1 p.m. Celebrant: Father Al 

Scott. Call 562-537-4526. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Mass. Cathedral 

of Our Lady of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., 

Los Angeles, 2 p.m. Celebrant: Archbishop José H. 

Gomez. 

Visit AngelusNews.com for these stories 

and more. Your source for complete, 

up-to-the-minute coverage of local news, 

sports and events in Catholic L.A. 

This Week at AngelusNews.com 

• A year in review: We revisit the stories you loved in 2019. 

• Read Archbishop Gomez’s statement for the World Day of Peace. 

• Passionate Catholic vocalist celebrates new songs for a new year. 


SUNDAY 

READINGS 

BY SCOTT HAHN 

Is. 42:1–4, 6–7 / Ps. 29:1–4, 9–10 / Acts 10:34–38 / Matt. 3:13–17 

Jesus presents himself for 

John’s baptism in today’s 

Gospel, not because he is 

a sinner, but to fulfill the 

word of God proclaimed 

by his prophets. He must 

be baptized to reveal that 

he is the Christ (“anointed 

one”), the Spirit-endowed 

Servant promised by Isaiah 

in today’s First Reading. 

His baptism marks the 

start of a new world, a new 

creation. As Isaiah prophesied, 

the Spirit descends 

upon Jesus like a dove, as 

the Spirit hovered over the 

face of the deep in the beginning 

(see Genesis 1:2). 

As it was in the beginning, 

at the Jordan also the 

majestic voice of the Lord 

thunders above the waters. 

The Father opens the heavens 

and declares Jesus to be 

his “beloved son.” 

God had long prepared 

the Israelites for his coming, 

as Peter preaches in today’s 

Second Reading. Jesus was anticipated 

in the “beloved son” given to Abraham 

(see Genesis 22:2,12, 26), and 

in the calling of Israel as his “firstborn 

son” (see Exodus 4:22–23). Jesus is the 

divine Son begotten by God, the everlasting 

heir promised to King David 

(see Psalm 2:7; 2 Samuel 7:14). 

He is “a covenant of the people [Israel]” 

and “a light to the nations,” Isaiah 

says. By the new covenant made in his 

blood (see 1 Corinthians 11:25), God 

has gathered the lost sheep of Israel 

together with whoever fears him in 

every nation. 

“The Baptism of Christ,” commissioned by Maître de 

Rheinfelden, after 1455. 

Christ has become the source from 

which God pours out his Spirit on 

Israelites and Gentiles alike (see Acts 

10:45). In baptism, all are anointed 

with that same Spirit, made beloved 

sons and daughters of God. Indeed, 

we are Christians, literally “anointed 

ones.” 

We are the “sons of God” in today’s 

Psalm, called to give glory to his name 

in his temple. Let us pray that we 

remain faithful to our calling as his 

children, that our Father might call us 

what he calls his Son: “my beloved ... 

in whom I am well pleased.” 

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS 

Scott Scott Hahn Hahn is is founder founder of of the the St. St. Paul Paul Center Center for for Biblical Biblical Theology, stpaulcenter.com. 

8 • ANGELUS • August January 16-23-30, 10, 2020 2019

IN EXILE 

BY FATHER RONALD ROLHEISER, OMI 

The best 10 books that found me in 2019 

There’s a Latin axiom which argues 

that there’s no accounting for taste, 

“de gustibus non est disputandum.” I 

reference it as a preamble to my annual 

list of the 10 books I most enjoyed 

this past year because, admittedly, taste 

is somewhat subjective. I chose these 

books because they’re the ones that 

spoke most deeply to me. 

Perhaps they won’t speak to you in 

the same way. Fair enough. There’s 

no accounting for taste. So, here are 

the authors and the books that spoke 

to me. 

Dom Bernardo Olivera, OCSO 

— “How Far to Follow? The Martyrs 

of Atlas” (Cistercian Publications, 

$12.95). This book helps tell the 

inside story of the Trappist monks who 

were martyred by Islamic extremists in 

Algeria in 1996. It focuses on the deep 

struggles these men underwent in 

making the decision not to leave their 

monastery and face martyrdom. 

Father Donald Senior, CP — “Raymond 

E. Brown and the Catholic Biblical 

Renewal” (Paulist Press, $29.95). 

Well-researched and well-written, this 

is a biography of the renowned Scripture 

scholar, Father Brown, who stood 

out for his scholarship and for his 

exemplary discipleship and priesthood. 

The book is more of an intellectual 

history of Father Brown than a 

chronicle of his life. By sharing Father 

Brown’s intellectual history, Father 

Senior also highlights the theological 

and ecclesial struggles of Brown’s 

generation. 

Rachel Held Evans — This past year 

I discovered the writings of Rachel 

Held Evans. I cite three of her works 

here: “Searching for Sunday: Loving, 

Leaving, and Finding the Church” 

(Thomas Nelson, $9.49); “Inspired: 

Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, 

and Loving the Bible Again” (Nelson 

Books, $11.49); and “A Year of Biblical 

Womanhood” (Thomas Nelson, 

$11.59). 

Evans grew up a cradle evangelical 

with a deep and solid faith, but 

adulthood brought its own challenges, 

particularly for someone of her courage 

and honesty. These books chronicle 

Evan’s struggle with her religious 

mother tongue, her falling out of her 

faith story, and her particular way of 

finding her way back in. 

Her story articulates the struggle 

of millions. It’s an invaluable read, 

irrespective of one’s religious mother 

tongue. She’s also an exceptionally 

gifted writer. Sadly, she died in May 

2019 at the age of 37. We lost a needed 

religious voice, but what she left us 

can help many a person sort through 

his or her religious struggles. 

Jean Bosco Rutagengwa — “Love 

Prevails: One Couple’s Story of Faith 

and Survival in the Rwandan Genocide” 

(Orbis Books, $19.39). Someone 

once said that if you want to understand 

the tragedy of World War II, you 

can read a thousand books about it 

and watch a thousand hours of film, or 

you can read “The Diary of a Young 

Girl.” This is such a “diary,” written 

inside the horrors of the Rwandan 

genocide. 

Robert Ellsberg — “A Living 

Gospel: Reading God’s Story in Holy 

Lives” (Orbis Books, $15.76). The 

lives of the saints are our living gospel 

and Robert Ellsberg is the foremost 

hagiographer in the English language 

today. This wonderfully readable book 

teaches us both what hagiography is 

and why it’s important. 

Margaret Renkl — “Late Migrations: 

A Natural History of Love and Loss” 

(Milkweed Editions, $24). This is a 

unique kind of book, a poetics of sorts 

on love, nature, adoration, family life, 

death, dying, and human resiliency. 

Father Richard Rohr, OFM — “The 

Universal Christ: How a Forgotten 

Reality Can Change Everything We 

See, Hope For, and Believe” (Convergent 

Books, $16.22). This book will 

challenge you and will, with a sound 

scriptural theology, challenge mainline 

theology in its popular conception 

of both the intent and the scope of the 

Incarnation. An important read. 

Sister Ruth Burrows, OCD — “Before 

the Living God” (Ambassador 

Books Inc., $10.42). This is Sister 

Burrows’ autobiography. I first read it 

32 years ago. It moved me then and it 

moved me even more 32 years later. 

In her story, you will better understand 

your own story and the movement of 

God in your life. 

David Brooks — “The Second 

Mountain: The Quest for a Moral 

Life” (Random House, $13.99). 

Brooks’ “Second Mountain” very 

much corresponds to what spiritual 

writers like Father Rohr call the second-half 

of life. 

Drawing upon his own story and 

creatively mixing secular and religious 

perspectives, Brooks lays out a 

challenging vision of what it means 

to mature, to move from being the 

hungry child to becoming the blessing 

adult. An excellent read. 

Mary Jo Leddy — “Why Are We 

Here? A Meditation on Canada” (Novalis, 

$14.95). Leddy, the founder of 

Romero House for refugees in Toronto 

has always been a prophetic voice. 

In this book, she submits that every 

country has its “original sin,” some primal 

fault in its origins that now taints its 

present. For Canada, she argues, it was 

how it treated its indigenous peoples. 

Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father Ronald Rolheiser is a spiritual writer, www.ronrolheiser.com. 



A mosaic portrait of 

St. Gregory Of Narek 

at the Vatican’s 

St. Peter’s Basilica. 

Our Armenian connection 

A new book 

introduces us to the 

most important saint 

you never heard of 

BY MIKE AQUILINA / ANGELUS 

Armenian Christianity has been 

in the news. Cameras flashed 

in October as Kim Kardashian 

West, wife of Kanye, took her children 

to Armenia to be baptized in her 

ancestral church. In 2015 the Getty 

Museum in Los Angeles settled a 

multimillion-dollar lawsuit brought by 

the Armenian Apostolic Church for 

“restitution of cultural heritage looted 

as a result of the Armenian Genocide.” 

But the biggest story got little media 

attention when it broke. Pope Francis, 

in 2015, designated St. Gregory of 

Narek, a 10th-century Armenian, as a 

“doctor of the Church,” an elite group 

of 36 saints renowned for their teaching. 

The news arrived to great celebration 

in Southern California, which is 

home to the world’s largest population 

of Armenians outside Armenia. But 

St. Gregory was, and remains, largely 

unknown outside Armenian circles. 

Michael Papazian, Ph.D., intends 

to remedy that. A professor of philosophy 

at Berry College in Georgia, he 

has produced a book that introduces 

this great saint to the world beyond 

Armenia: “The Doctor of Mercy: The 

Sacred Treasures of St. Gregory of 

Narek” (Liturgical Press, $40). 

He spoke with Angelus News. 

Mike Aquilina: Most Catholics were 

unaware of St. Gregory until the pope 

numbered him among the doctors. 

Why is that? 

Michael Papazian: Mainly because 

Gregory was Armenian and for a variety 

of reasons — historical, linguistic, 

political, geographic — the Armenian 

Christian tradition has not received 

attention outside Armenian circles. 

Gregory was writing in a language 

that’s distantly related to most European 

languages, but with its own alphabet 

and other unique features. Translation 

of his works into modern languages 

is a relatively recent phenomenon, so 

an English reader wouldn’t have had 

access. 

Also, Armenia is a small country, 

easily overlooked. I grew up in New 

Jersey, which has a large Armenian 

community, but whenever I told people 

my name is Armenian, I would get 

10 • ANGELUS • January 10, 2020

puzzled questions like, “What’s that? Is 

that like Romania?” 

Among Armenians, however, Gregory 

is well-known and loved. If we were to 

go to a pious Armenian family’s house, 

we would find at least two books: the 

Bible and Gregory’s great collection of 

prayers, the “Book of Lamentation.” 

His prayers are in our liturgy. There’s 

popular devotion to him. I’m aware 

personally of many healings and miracles 

attributed to his intercession. 

I’m thrilled that Gregory now is 

receiving attention. This all began 

with St. Pope John Paul II, who cited 

Gregory often. The pope and Gregory 

shared a profound devotion to the 

Blessed Virgin. 

Aquilina: How would you describe 

his work? What makes it deserving of a 

title reserved for the best of the best? 

Papazian: I have a hard time describing 

it. It’s so different from writings of 

other theologians. Some have compared 

him to St. Augustine. Others 

have said that he’s Armenia’s version 

of Dante. Neither comparison gets us 

very far. 

His style is reminiscent of St. Ephrem, 

the great fourth-century Syriac doctor, 

and I think there may be some direct 

influence there. His writing, even 

when it’s not, strictly speaking, poetry, 

is always poetic. He loves to experiment. 

He invents words and constantly 

makes allusions to biblical passages. 

I sometimes think that he’s what you’d 

get if you crossed Augustine and James 

Joyce. But his spirituality is also infused 

with the simple piety of the Desert 

Fathers; and, although he lived before 

him, there’s an element of St. Francis 

in him, too. He’s a synthesis of so many 

strands of Christian tradition. 

We expect a doctor not just to teach 

orthodox doctrine, but also to have an 

especially profound understanding of 

Scripture and the faith. Gregory clearly 

meets these criteria. He is, as Pope 

Francis has stated, “an extraordinary 

interpreter of the human soul.” He 

presents a striking portrait of the extent 

of human sinfulness and our utter 

dependence on God. 

He also has a beautiful vision of the 

essential role of the Virgin in the economy 

of salvation, and affirms that she 

was immaculate from the beginning of 

her life. He does all this with extraordinary 

grace and humility. 

Aquilina: Why do you call Gregory 

“The Doctor of Mercy”? 

Papazian: I was reluctant. Not 

because it doesn’t fit, but because it 

seemed presumptuous of me — a 

layperson with no formal theological 

education — to bestow a title on a 

An 1173 manuscript of the “Book of Lamentation.” 



A statue of St. Gregory of Narek, a 10th-century Armenian monk, during its dedication in the Vatican Gardens April 5, 2018. Pope Francis blessed the 

statue in the presence of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Armenian Apostolic Catholicos Karekin II, and Armenian Apostolic Catholicos Aram of Cilicia. 

JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES/CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE 


doctor! But so many doctors have titles 

— Augustine is the “Doctor of Grace,” 

for example — so it seemed fitting that 

Gregory have one, too. 

The overarching theme of Gregory’s 

theology is God’s infinite mercy. 

The “Book of Lamentation” is a work 

of penance and reconciliation. But 

penance and contrition are useless 

without God’s mercy and forgiveness. 

The parable of the prodigal son recurs 

throughout Gregory’s writings. The 

figure of the father who always welcomes 

us no matter how far we have 

strayed is central to Gregory’s understanding 

of God. It also did not seem a 

coincidence that Pope Francis named 

Gregory a doctor on the Sunday of 

Divine Mercy in 2015. 

Aquilina: “Mercy” is, of course, one 

of the major themes of Pope Francis’ 

pontificate. Does this make Gregory 

particularly suited to our time? 

Papazian: Yes. There is the theme 

of mercy, but also the theme of the 

Church going to the peripheries. Gregory 

is a saint of the peripheries, living 

on the margins of the West and on the 

frontier of Christendom, a priest of a 

Church that has often been isolated 

from the mainstream. 

As a saint venerated by both Catholic 

and Orthodox Armenians, he is a 

symbol of Christian unity and hope for 

the healing of all divisions that separate 

humanity. 

Aquilina: What is distinctive about 

Armenian Christianity? How does it 

enrich the Catholic Church? 

Papazian: Armenians have adopted 

so many of the practices and rituals of 

other Christian traditions. In the book 

I describe two major influences on the 

Armenian rite: Byzantine and Syriac. 

But also there has been an openness to 

the West. We see this in the liturgy and 

the vestments of our priests. 

The liturgy of the Armenian Church 

has many of the features of the old 

Roman rite. This was not a result of 

forced “Latinization,” but an organic 

development. The paradox of Armenian 

Christianity is that such a small, 

often insular, and perpetually persecuted 

Church has shown remarkable 

openness and hospitality to other 

traditions. 

The Armenian tradition can serve as 

an inspiration to the Universal Church 

in our path toward recovery of full 

communion. 

Aquilina: Gregory was dismissed as a 

heretic by some in the West, even after 

he was named a doctor of the Church. 

What was that all about? 

Papazian: Today we have an Armenian 

Catholic Church, in full communion 

with the bishop of Rome, and the 

Armenian Apostolic Church, one of 

the non-Chalcedonian churches that 

we call Oriental Orthodox now. The 

division is the result of disagreements 

about the two-nature Christology 

affirmed at the Council of Chalcedon 

in the fifth century. 

The Armenian Apostolic Church has 

never agreed to Chalcedon and has 

maintained a one-nature Christology 

that nevertheless recognizes Christ as 

perfect God and perfect man, but in 

one nature rather than two. 

Gregory recognizes as orthodox both 

the Chalcedonian two-nature Christology 

and the Armenian one-nature 

Christology. He adopts a conciliatory 

stance: He rarely if ever uses the term 

“nature,” but simply affirms the perfect 

divinity and humanity of the one person 

of Christ. 

Remarkably, that Christological 

stance is exactly the one that was affirmed 

in the common declaration by 

John Paul II and the Armenian Apostolic 

Catholicos (or supreme patriarch) 

Karekin I in 1996, the declaration that 

many observers believe put an end to 

the Christological disputes between 

the two churches. So while Gregory 

was a priest of a church separated from 

Rome, he always taught what is now 

confirmed as orthodox doctrine. 

Aquilina: What are the lessons of his 

life and work for today? 

Papazian: One of the most moving 

passages in the “Book of Lamentation” 

is Gregory’s prayer of forgiveness for 

those he has hurt. In my inadequate 

translation, it reads: 

“Now what prayers in this book may 

be pleasing to you, 

What smoke of incense acceptable to 

you shall I offer, 

O Christ, praised heavenly King, 

If I do not pray to you to bless those 

whom I cursed, 

Tend to those I have bruised, 

Care for those I have alienated, 

Give refuge to those I have betrayed, 

And heal the souls of those I have 

wounded in body?” 

As we learn how many of those 

entrusted with authority both in the 

Church and outside have abused their 

position and wounded those entrusted 

to their care, I think this confessional 

prayer of Gregory is especially timely 

and should be on all our lips and 

minds. 

Mike Aquilina is a contributing editor 

to Angelus News and the author of 

many books, including “The Fathers of 

the Church” (Our Sunday Visitor, $24). 


Doctor 

come 

lately 

St. Irenaeus lived in 

the A.D. 100s. Why 

is he only now getting 

his degree? 

More than 1,800 years after his 

death, St. Irenaeus of Lyon is 

back in the news. At their November 

general assembly in Baltimore, 

Maryland, the U.S. bishops voted 

unanimously in agreement with a 

French initiative to name St. Irenaeus 

a doctor of the Church. Their approval 

has been passed on to the Vatican for 

consideration by Pope Francis. 

If the motion succeeds, the second-century 

bishop will be named the 

37th doctor of the Church, joining an 

elite group that includes St. Augustine, 

St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Teresa of Ávila, 

and St. Thérèse of Lisieux, among 

others. The Latin word doctor means 

“teacher,” and the Church’s doctors 

are considered its most important 

sources of doctrine. 

St. Irenaeus is a most unusual case. A 

profoundly influential theologian from 

early in the Church’s history, many 

Catholic scholars confessed on social 

media that they were surprised by the 

U.S. bishops’ vote. They had assumed 

that St. Irenaeus already was a doctor 

of the Church. Some Catholic websites 

mistakenly identify him as one. 

But he isn’t, yet, and that has more 

to do with the development of the title 

“doctor” than with his achievement. 

Until the 16th century, there were 

only four saints so honored by the 

Western Church: St. Gregory the 

Great, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and 

St. Jerome. 

In the centuries since, popes have 


Stained glass of St. Irenaus in St. Irenaeus 

Church in Lyon, France. 

sporadically added others. Most of the 

doctors, however, have been saints of 

the second millennium, who are better 

known to modern Catholics. The great 

teachers of the early Church are gaining 

due recognition at a slower pace. 

The U.S. bishops’ unanimous vote, 

however, is evidence of the universal 

regard for St. Irenaeus. 

“It’s not just what he knew. It’s also 

who he knew,” said Scott Hahn in an 

interview with Angelus News. Hahn 

is professor of Scripture and theology 

at Franciscan University of Steubenville, 

Ohio. “Irenaeus was a man as 

important for his connections as for his 

teachings. His authority is magnified 

by his spiritual lineage.” 

As a young man, he learned the faith 

from St. Polycarp of Smyrna, who in 

turn learned the faith from St. John 

the Evangelist, who in turn learned the 

faith from Jesus Christ. 

He grew up in Smyrna (Izmir in 

modern Turkey) and spent much time 

in the company of his master, Polycarp. 

Later in life, writing to a childhood 

companion, he recalled those days: 

“I listened eagerly even then to these 

things [said by Polycarp] … and made 

notes of them, not on paper but in my 

heart, and ever by the grace of God do 

I truly ruminate on them.” 

St. Irenaeus felt a grave responsibility 

to carry forward Polycarp’s doctrine. 

At some point, he moved from Smyrna 

to Lugdunum (Lyon in modern 

France). He was active in the life of 

the Church, which was then undergoing 

a renewed persecution under the 

Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Respected 

for his intelligence, and also for his 

connection to Polycarp, St. Irenaeus 

was consulted by popes on important 

questions of the day. 

In the mid-second century, the 

Church suffered as much from division 

as from persecution. Christians in the 

East differed from those in the West 

about the proper day to celebrate the 

Lord’s resurrection. The argument 

grew so intense that there was danger 

of excommunication and schism. St. 

Irenaeus counseled moderation and 

calm, averting a crisis. 

Still more damaging to the Church 

was a strain of heresy known as gnosticism. 

It was a movement of many 

sects, constantly metastasizing because 

its “revelation” came to individual 

teachers through private “knowledge” 

(in Greek, “gnosis”). 

Gnostics held several characteristics 

in common. They believed that the 

true teaching of Jesus was not to be 

found in the words of the Gospels, 

but rather in “secrets” passed down 

through gnostic teachers. The secrets 

were not intended for many people, 

but only for a spiritual elite. 

They also believed that the material 

world was an evil fabrication of a lesser 

god. Thus, they rejected the Old Testament 

with its stories of creation and its 

worship of the Creator. 

Against the fanciful theories of the 

gnostics, St. Irenaeus contrasted the 

doctrine of the Catholic Church, 

which was public, simple, open to 

everyone, and could be traced directly 

to Jesus by a very short lineage. He 

recognized that lineage in the bishops 

who could legitimately claim to be 

successors of the apostles. His exempla- 


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ry case is the line of bishops in Rome, 

the popes, whose names he can list off 

in entirety. 

St. Irenaeus wrote many works, most 

of which have not survived into modern 

times. His masterpiece is “Against 

Heresies,” a five-volume refutation 

of gnosticism. But it is more than the 

negative critique suggested by its title. 

It is also a positive statement of the 

apostolic tradition, which St. Irenaeus 

called “the rule of faith.” 

Pope Benedict XVI, in 2007, referred 

to “Against Heresies” as “the oldest 

catechism of Christian doctrine.” 

In the course of this work he witnesses 

to both the humanity and divinity of 

Jesus. He speaks of the Trinity and Incarnation. 

He affirms the real presence 

of Jesus in the Eucharist. He demonstrates, 

moreover, that these teachings 

are consistent with the Scriptures and 

have been constant since the time of 

the apostles. 

He also presents a developed Marian 

doctrine. He speaks of Mary as “undoing 

the knot of Eve’s disobedience,” 

thus laying the foundation for the 

modern devotion to the Blessed Virgin 

as “undoer of knots.” 

St. Irenaeus won renown in his own 

lifetime and has been quoted as an 

authority in every generation afterward. 

The time has come to recognize 

that authority in an official way, said 

Church historian Matthew Bunson. 

“The call for Pope Francis to declare 

St. Irenaeus of Lyon a doctor of the 

Church is arguably long overdue,” he 

told Angelus News. Bunson is co-author 

of the book “The 35 Doctors of 

the Church” (TAN Books, $28) and 

host of “The Doctors of the Church” 

on the Eternal Word Television Network. 

But, he added, it’s also especially 

needed today. “In a time of neo-paganism, 

tragic amnesia of the beauty 

of Christianity, and the struggle to 

keep the young in the Faith, this great 

Father warns that we ‘should not seek 

among others the truth that can be easily 

gotten from the Church,’ but even 

more reminds us that only the Church 

‘is the door of life.’ I add my prayer that 

the Holy Father will grant this plea 

from so many of the faithful.” 

— Mike Aquilina 

January 10, 2020 • ANGELUS • 15 

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12/19/19 6:43 AM

‘He loves us 

even more’ 

For inmates at Men’s Central Jail, 

Archbishop Gomez’s traditional 

Christmas visit offered the chance 

for ‘a spiritual awakening’ 

BY PABLO KAY / ANGELUS 

JOHN MCCOY 

Archbishop José H. Gomez visits inmates after Christmas Mass in the restrictive housing unit of Men’s Central Jail, where the most dangerous 

inmates are housed. 

To an outsider, the signs that this 

is no ordinary Christmas Mass 

are obvious. 

Posted from what resembles a choir 

loft, deputies in riot gear from the 

Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team 

keep watch as inmates wearing blue, 

light green, and white jumpsuits file 

inside the drab, windowless chapel on 

the third floor of Men’s Central Jail in 

downtown Los Angeles. 

The jail’s priest chaplain, Father 

Paul Griesgraber, fist-bumps the men 

as they walk in. Once they’re seated, a 

female deputy has to ask them to quiet 

down. “We’re in church!” she reminds 

them. 

But when the Mass’s celebrant, Los 

Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez, 

preaches on the significance of what 

the Church is celebrating today, the 


ecomes a little child in a manger, 

small and defenseless.” 

It’s a message that seems to have the 

full attention of today’s congregation. 

“God wants to be with us, with you 

and with me, independently of the 

situations in our life. He loves us no 

matter what. If we’ve done things 

wrong in our life, he loves us even 

more.” 

To make his point, the archbishop 

could have used examples of some 

of the crimes many of these men 

are accused of: robbery, kidnapping, 

domestic violence. 

Instead, he reminds them that “God 

loves you whether you’re a Lakers 

or a Clippers fan,” or whether they 

support Chivas or América [two of 

Mexico’s major soccer teams]. 

Although, if you like América, “there 

might be something wrong,” cracks 

the Mexican-born archbishop, himself 

an avid supporter of the Rayados 

of his hometown of Monterrey (who 

were playing América the next day). 

Here the crowd of jumpsuits breaks 

into laughter, forcing the archbishop 

to pause. 

“I don’t know where I was,” he 

admits once the laughter subsides, to 

the delight of the inmates, who give 

him a rousing round of applause in 

the middle of the homily, a sign that 

even here, in this overcrowded jail, 

there can be Christmas joy. 

‘A SPIRITUAL AWAKENING’ 

Celebrating the morning Mass for inmates 

has been a Christmas tradition 

for the last several Catholic archbishops 

of Los Angeles stretching back 

decades. Following custom, Sheriff 

Alex Villanueva and his wife also 

attended, as did several deputies, jail 

staff, and members of the media. 

“This is the beginning, a spiritual 

awakening for them,” explained 

Villanueva. 

After the Mass, Archbishop Gomez 

made the rounds through the restrictive 

housing unit, where the jail’s most 

dangerous, high-risk inmates are kept 

in single cells. 

As he stopped at each cell to greet 

the inmates and give them this year’s 

Christmas gift (a copy of the book 

“Tattoos on the Heart” by local priest 

Father Greg Boyle, SJ, founder of 

Homeboy Industries), some stretched 

out their hands for a blessing, others 

showed him what they were reading. 

One even flashed a gang sign to say 

thanks. Others just wanted to make 

the most of their few seconds with the 

archbishop. 

message of his homily is the same as 

the one he gave at the Cathedral of 

Our Lady of the Angels at Midnight 

Mass just a few hours earlier. 

“It’s not that God wants to be with 

us in some extraordinary way,” the 

archbishop tells the inmates. “God 

Several dozen inmates and sheriff’s deputies attended Mass in the jail’s chapel Christmas morning. 

JOHN MCCOY 


M 

JOHN MCCOY 

Archbishop Gomez blesses a sheriff’s deputy at Men’s Central Jail after Christmas Mass. 

“Can you pray for me, sir?” asked one 

inmate through the green bars. 

“Right now?” 

“Yeah.” 

Blessing the young man, Archbishop 

Gomez prayed for peace in his life 

and for his family. 

SEEK TRUTH. SERVE OTHERS. OTHERS. Father Griesgraber says that when 

it comes to prayer, the men in their 

jail cells teach him more than he can 

teach them. 

Flintridge Sacred Heart Heart Academy, Academy, “There’s nothing between them and 

God,” explained the priest, who visits 

a Catholic, Dominican, with inmates and celebrates Mass with 

them at the jail every Sunday. 

independent, college-preparatory, “Their family, their life, their freedom, 

anything that’s important for 

day and boarding school, school, them has been torn away. They’re in a 

simple situation with nothing between 

educates young women women them and God.” 

That reality leads some of the men 

for a life a life of of 

Father Griesgraber visits to thank God 

for the simplest of things: the fact they 

faith, integrity and and truth. truth. woke up in the morning, that their feet 

still move, for their pals down the hall. 

Thirty-nine-year-old inmate Nicholas 

Gaona is one of them. He said he’s 

grateful for the time in the jail, despite 

www.fsha.org 

its reputation for overcrowding, unsanitary 

conditions, and scandals involving 

deputies in the past. 

440 St. Katherine Drive Drive When he was first sentenced to 21 

years in jail for drug charges, the Fon- 

native remembered, “I used to 

La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91011 CA 91011tana 

• • 

think I had the answer to everything.” 

626-685-8500 

18 • ANGELUS • January 10, 2020 

“But being in here, I realized I didn’t 

know anything,” he added. “This 

place has helped me to grow immensely, 

to be less judgmental.” 

Gaona had been looking forward to 

this year’s Mass, especially the archbishop’s 

presence, he said. The father 

of three children, he’s found hope in 

attending Sunday Mass (when his job 

allows), praying in his cell, spending 

occasional time with his kids through 

a program for inmate fathers called 

“Malachi Dads,” and helping other 

inmates. 

“This place will eat you alive if you 

let it,” said Gaona. “It’s amazing what 

you can do to help somebody just by 

listening.” 

Father Griesgraber said the greatest 

gift for the men this Christmas 

was the human touch that the Mass 

allowed the inmates to feel. 

“They want to break open, to be 

a part of the family,” the priest said 

of the inmates. The mid-homily 

applause for their special visitor, he 

believes, was a perfect sign of that. 

“He broke through the ice, and they 

were ready to be with him,” Father 

Griesgraber said of the archbishop. “It 

felt like Christmas at home with the 

family.” 

Pablo Kay is the editor-in-chief of 

Angelus. 

B 

S

“The 

“The 

unity 

unity 

of 

of 

the 

the 

body 

body 

of 

of 

Christ 

Christ 

helps the the unity unity of of the the rest rest of of the the 

human race, and and we’re we’re called called to to 

build up up that that union.” 

Msgr. Stuart Swetland on on Go Go Ask Ask Your Your Father Father , 

, 

heard weekdays at at 10:00 10:00 am. am. 

930AM 

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R.W. DELLINGER 

When medicine 

meets mission 

After a formation period in LA, a doctor couple 

and their kids are leaving it all behind to serve 

the poor on the other side of the world 

BY R.W. DELLINGER / ANGELUS 

From left: Emily, Robyn, Brian, and Jack Jennings are beginning their mission in southeastern 

Ghana this month. 

Ever since her high school years, 

Robyn Jennings had dreamed 

of being a missionary. 

“I was just trying to figure out in 

what capacity,” recalled the married 

mother of two. “One of my professors 

in college encouraged me to think 

about medicine. So that was the plan 

all along.” 

A degree in medicine wasn’t the 

only part of that plan. Raised Baptist, 

Jennings went to Messiah College in 

Pennsylvania and studied biology and 

global Christian ministries. It was in 

medical school that she met her future 

husband, Brian, and she became 

Catholic. 

This month, that plan is taking the 

Connecticut couple to Africa after a 3 

1/2-month formation period with the 

Mission Doctors Association here in 

Los Angeles. Their assignment: Anfoega 

Catholic Hospital in rural Ghana. 

The Jennings family spoke to Angelus 

News in a recent interview at the 

Mission House, a former convent next 

to St. John the Evangelist Church in 

South Los Angeles, where mission 

doctors and other missionaries affiliated 

with the Lay Mission-Helpers have 

prepared for their mission assignments 

for years. 

While explaining their mission, 

Mission Doctors Association executive 

director Elise Frederick was interrupted 

by the family’s 4-year-old missionary, 

Emily, as she came running into 

the house. 

“What’s going to happen in Ghana 

for you?” asked Frederick. 

“There’s a lot of snakes, and I’m 

going to make new friends,” Emily 

informed her. 

The latter is the hope of her parents, 

too, who are the third doctor couple to 

serve since the association was formed 

by Msgr. Anthony Brouwers in collaboration 

with the Catholic Physician 

Association in 1959. 

That was four years after he had 

started the groundbreaking Lay 

Mission-Helpers, sending out laymen 

and laywomen, and their families, to 

mostly Third World countries in Africa, 

Latin America, and even the South 

Pacific. So the Jennings’ class of 2020 

marks 60 years of medical outreach. 

“It was Msgr. Brouwers. I just believe 


that he had the vision and the foresight 

to make it a program that could 

last,” said Frederick after Emily ran 

back to her parents. “That’s why I 

believe it’s still going, and this is our 

60th anniversary. I think there are still 

Catholics who have a commitment to 

serve internationally, and the fact that 

we supply the kind of formation before 

they go and support. It’s preparing 

them to serve.” 

Later, in the old convent’s cozy 

library, the couple recounted how 

their paths had brought them to 

their new mission. Robyn had taught 

biology, chemistry, and physics in a 

missionary-run high school in Bogota, 

Colombia, for two years. Both volunteered 

at a hospital in Honduras while 

in medical school. And both did their 

residencies in family practice, with 

an emphasis in obstetrics, knowing it 

would later serve them well. 

“I think that having a common goal 

— trying to work toward working in 

the missions — was one of the biggest 

things that connected us,” Brian 

explained. “Since medical school, I’ve 

kind of been on the track of hoping to 

do medical missions. So I’m excited 

that we’re finally getting to the point of 

going.” 

“I think we both feel called to go 

serve the poor in other countries, just 

with what we’ve been exposed to: the 

lack of resources and the poverty in 

other places,” Robyn added. “It felt 

like we could use the knowledge and 

skills that we have to help in those 

places.” 

The three-year commitment to Mission 

Doctors is the longest volunteer 

effort both have made. Another reason 

for that is their children, Emily and 

2-year-old son, Jack. 

“I’m hoping that they’re going to 

learn a lot about the world: new 

cultures, new languages, meet new 

friends,” said Brian. “I think they’ll 

have experiences that most kids here 

in the U.S. are not going to get to 

have. So I’m hoping that it will help 

them to grow.” 

Robyn agreed. “I wanted them to 

share what it was like meeting other 

kids like we’ve met in our travels,” she 

said. “And they’ll be part of the ministry. 

They can help open doors to other 

families. So having them go with us is 

actually an advantage.” 

The doctor couple expects to see a lot 

of patients with malaria at the 70-bed 

rural hospital they will be working 

in, along with common illnesses like 

pneumonia, urine infections, and 

injuries like broken bones, cuts, and 

burns. And, of course, they’ll be using 

their obstetrical training with many 

deliveries. 

“What’s nice with the Mission Doctors 

Association is they have a lot of 

short-term doctors who are specialists 

in different things,” Brian said. “So 

they can come and provide that specialty 

care, hopefully, throughout our 

three years over there.” 

Both believe formation at the Mission 

House prepared them both culturally 

and spiritually to work in a mission far 

from home. For Brian it was a special 

period of time to step back from his 

busy life as a physician and have time 

From left: Ed and Cathy Medina, and Tony McConnell at St. John the Evangelist Church Dec. 8. 

Three Lay Mission-Helpers 

were also commissioned 

on Dec. 8 at St. John the 

Evangelist Church. Tony McConnell, 

from the Diocese of Colorado 

Springs, is a recent graduate of the 

University of Providence in Great 

Falls, Montana, where he earned 

a bachelor’s degree in computer 

science. He will serve as an IT 

specialist for the Diocese of Kabale 

in Uganda. 

For Ed and Cathy Medina, who 

are members of St. Joseph Church 

for prayer and reflection. 

“It just solidified what I already felt I 

was being called for,” he said. “When 

you’re working, it can be tough to have 

that time during the day to just have a 

quiet time to think.” 

Robyn liked the workshops and talks 

by experts in different fields, as well as 

former Mission Doctors and Lay Mission-Helpers 

dropping by to share their 

own experiences. And she thought the 

three-day retreat before their commissioning 

on Dec. 8 was a fitting way to 

end the formation. 

“It was just nice to be able to focus 

on our own spiritual lives and pray 

and read and walk in nature,” she said. 

“This week’s been really good. Our 

faith is important to us and being commissioned 

to go into the world to treat 

and heal, to love, to make disciples.” 

R.W. Dellinger is the features editor of 

Angelus. 

Lay Mission-Helpers commissioned 

in the Diocese of Pueblo, Colorado, 

this is their second time as Lay 

Mission-Helpers. In 2001, they were 

commissioned to serve with their 

three children — Terisa, Megan, and 

Billy — in Cameroon for three years. 

Last month they were commissioned 

again, also for Uganda’s Diocese of 

Kabale. Ed will serve as a physician 

assistant and Cathy a registered nurse 

at St. Francis Hospital in Mutolore, 

Uganda. 

— R.W. Dellinger 

LAY MISSION-HELPERS 


OneLife LA 2019. 

VICTOR ALEMÁN 

LA’s family reunion 

Why the goal of this year’s OneLife event is to expand 

respect for life beyond just one day 

BY TOM HOFFARTH / ANGELUS 

Five years into the OneLife LA 

movement that Archbishop José 

H. Gomez envisioned would 

celebrate the beauty and dignity of 

every human life, a family story is 

taking shape. 

Some may measure the continued 

success by the increasing number of 

participants. What started out with 

15,000 in its first year has far more than 

doubled, whether it’s those involved in 

the youth rally, walking in unity with 

the crowd from La Placita Church 

through downtown LA, congregating 

at the festival in the LA State Historic 

Park to hear guest speakers, or praying 

during the Requiem Mass for the 

Unborn at the Cathedral of Our Lady 

of the Angels. 

But from the perspective of Kathleen 

Buckley Domingo, senior director of 

the Office of Life, Justice and Peace 

for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the 

most significant steps have more to do 

with the feeling of family bonding, and 

hearing the stories from participants 

who have been inspired to help pay 

forward a positive message of service 

and hope. 

“We would love OneLife to continue 

each year to have more and more people 

attending,” said Domingo as she 

prepared for the sixth annual event on 

Saturday, Jan. 18. “But anecdotally, I 

think the success is measured more by 

hearing throughout the year — in April 

or July or November — about how 

OneLife got someone to take action 

and become involved in something 

bigger. 

“The goal is always to get people to 

recognize our mission and do it all 

year-round, a groundswell of action in 

the community that loves, cherishes, 

and respects every single person, and 

doing it as part of one extended family. 

We want this to feel as if it’s our own 

family reunion, and a time to tell our 

family stories.” 

As such, this year’s unifying theme, 

“One Mission, One Family,” is as 

much setting a tangible goal to reach 

out for as it is a reflection of how far 

this event has come. 

Domingo said that a theme implemented 

several years ago, “Made 

For Greater,” resonated so well with 

the participants, “One Mission, One 

Family” takes that idea to the next 

level, focused on a united purpose of 

“bringing the love of Christ into the 

community to those who are in need or 

suffering,” she said. 

As part of the expansion of the annual 

gathering, the first OneLife LA Service 

Award will be given out. 

Jess Echeverry, who overcame a 

young life of abuse, homelessness, and 

suicide attempts before finding the 

Catholic Church, will be honored as 

the first recipient for the work she and 

her husband, Charlie, do with their 

nonprofit organization near the Loyola 

Marymount University campus in 

Westchester called SOFESA, which 


has helped the homeless and low-income 

children and their families since 

1999. 

SOFESA has been connected to the 

OneLife annual gatherings from the 

start, bringing in busloads of participants. 

Domingo hopes this recognition, 

which comes with a $10,000 

grant, will be an ongoing way to 

celebrate those who have been doing 

good in the community. 

Echeverry will be one of a dozen 

speakers and musicians participating in 

this year’s event. The keynote speaker 

will be criminal justice advocate Cyntoia 

Brown-Long, a 31-year-old who 

was convicted of murder when she was 

16 and involved in human trafficking. 

She faced a life sentence but was 

released from a Tennessee prison last 

August after having her sentence commuted 

through a clemency process. 

OneLife LA begins at 11 a.m. with 

the youth rally and march, and it concludes 

with a young adult after-party 

at the Imperial Western Terminal at 

Union Station. During the 2-4 p.m. 

park festival, many organizations will 

have booths to share information about 

their projects, ranging from foster care, 

human trafficking, immigration, and 

homeless services. 

OneLife LA will introduce a new 

partnership with Venice-based Harvest 

Home, which provides shelter and 

services to homeless pregnant women. 

A Habitat for Humanity group led by 

students at three ADLA high schools 

will build playhouses for families that 

are recipients of new homes built by 

Jess Echeverry 

ONELIFE LA 

Cyntoia Brown-Long 

volunteers of the nonprofit. 

The significance of this OneLife LA 

event in the somewhat caustic 2020 

election year will have a ripple effect 

in emphasizing the importance of 

coming together for the greater good 

no matter what individual projects or 

causes some may be more focused on, 

Domingo emphasized. 

“As we build a kingdom in Christ’s 

name, it’s about the idea that we unite 

around the idea of a human dignity 

that goes beyond any political or faith 

spectrum, but resonates with honoring 

and recognizing this part of our human 

condition,” said Domingo. 

“I would love to position participation 

in this year’s OneLife as the first in a 

season of unifying actions that people 

can take to begin healing the divisions 

in our families, our country, and our 

culture.” 

Archbishop Gomez has said he has 

been most pleased to see young people 

with families attending each year, from 

those pushing strollers to those escorted 

through the event in wheelchairs. 

“His goal has always been that 

everyone is welcome, and even if some 

come as individuals, they become family 

along the way with others because 

of shared interests and like-minded 

people traveling on the same path,” 

said Domingo. “The archbishop never 

intended this to be a one-day event, so 

to see it happen the last five years has 

been very exciting.” 

Tom Hoffarth is an award-winning 

journalist based in Los Angeles. 


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When the body suffers 

Last month’s Hanukkah party attack should be a 

wake-up call on religious hatred worldwide 

BY JOHN L. ALLEN JR. / ANGELUS 

People hold signs of support near the house of Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg Dec. 29, 2019, in Monsey, New York. Five people were injured in a knife 

attack during a Hanukkah party and a suspect, identified as Grafton E. Thomas, was later arrested in Harlem. 

STEPHANIE KEITH/GETTY IMAGES 

ROME — New Yorkers awoke on 

New Year’s Day 2020 to news 

that the family of one of the 

victims in the recent stabbing attack at 

a rabbi’s home during Hanukkah had 

released a statement saying his condition 

is “dire” and doctors don’t expect 

him to regain consciousness. 

The machete used in the assault 

apparently penetrated 71-year-old Josef 

Neumann’s brain and shattered his 

right arm. If he does succumb to his 

injuries, Neumann would become the 

first fatality in the incident that left four 

other people injured. 

The Monsey, New York hate crime is 

a reminder, as if one were needed, that 

anti-Semitism is alive and well in the 

early 21st century. It came amid a spate 

of at least eight attacks on Jews in New 

York in December. 

No doubt, Catholic pastors in New 

York will be spending a lot of time 

in pulpits over the next few weeks 

reminding people of the Church’s own 

path in firmly repudiating anti-Semitism, 

including the historic document 

“Nostrae Aetate” (“In Our Time”) of 

the Second Vatican Council and its 

declaration that the Church “raises her 

voice in loud protest against all wrongs 

done to Jews, whether in the past or in 

our time. 

“Whoever despises or persecutes this 

people does injury to the Catholic 

Church,” it said. 

This would be an apt moment to 

remember the great heroes of Catholic-Jewish 

relations over the last century, 

including the late German Cardinal 

Augustin Bea, SJ, who became a close 

friend of the famed Chief Rabbi of 

Rome at the time, Elio Toaff, and 

together the two men modeled a new 

kind of relationship. 


For American Catholics, Cardinal 

Bea’s legacy is keenly relevant right 

now, as is that of the late Dutch 

Cardinal Johannes Willebrands, who 

oversaw implementation of Vatican 

II’s teaching on Jews and Judaism as 

president of the Vatican’s Commission 

for Religious Relations with the Jews 

from 1969 to 1989. 

The anguish created by the Monsey 

attacks may create a moment in which 

the memories of such pioneers can 

be revived and preserved, rather than 

being lost to the passage of time. 

As they do all that, however, Catholics 

in New York and across America might 

also want to consider who else has a 

call on their sympathy and solidarity, 

because American Jews are not the 

only victims of religious hatred at the 

moment. 

It’s instructive to watch the reaction of 

Jewish leaders to the Monsey attacks, 

who’ve been extremely vocal in calling 

attention to the dangers of anti-Semitism 

and demanding a more aggressive 

response from public authorities. 

On Sunday, for example, four Jewish 

elected officials in New York asked 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo to declare a 

state of emergency and to deploy the 

National Guard to “visibly patrol and 

protect” Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods. 

Cuomo, a Catholic, has already 

declared the attack “domestic terrorism” 

and ordered stepped-up police 

patrols. 

Yet ironically, Christian leaders, 

Catholics very much included, rarely 

seem to generate the same kind of 

heat when their fellow Christians are 

targeted. 

Just days ago, to take merely one 

example, a Catholic bride-to-be and 

her entire bridal party were beheaded 

by suspected Boko Haram insurgents 

in northeastern Nigeria, part of an ongoing 

campaign of violence in Africa’s 

most populous state that’s made it one 

of the world’s most dangerous places to 

be a Christian. 

Meanwhile, the lone native-born 

Catholic priest in Bhutan told Crux 

that he was struggling to guide his 

small flock through the Christmas 

season without making too much 

noise, because Christians in the majority-Buddhist 

nation are viewed with 

suspicion. 


Bhutan’s aggressive strain of Buddhist 

nationalism makes it impossible for 

Christians even to build churches or 

worship in public, forcing them into a 

kind of catacombs faith. 

Those are simply two recent cases 

drawn from a lamentably vast galaxy 

of such incidents, in which Christians 

around the world suffer both 

violent assault and structural, government-sanctioned 

repression, along with 

a dizzying variety of other forms of 

harassment. 

Overall, more than 200 million 

Christians are believed to be at risk for 

religious violence and persecution, and 

the number of new Christian martyrs 

every year is estimated at somewhere 

between 100,000 and 8,000, depending 

mostly on what counts as specifically 

“religious” violence. 

Granted, this anti-Christian hostility 

for the most part isn’t unfolding in the 

United States, which undoubtedly 

goes a long way toward explaining the 

relative silence of American Christian 

leaders. Theologically, however, that’s 

no excuse, since the bonds of baptism 

are supposed to be every bit as strong as 

national identity and loyalties. 

As St. Paul put it in 1 Corinthians, 

speaking of the body of Christ, “If one 

part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if 

one part is honored, all the parts share 

its joy.” 

As a practical matter, Americans have 

the world’s biggest megaphone, and if 

U.S. Christian leaders don’t beat the 

drum about the threats their coreligionists 

face, it’s hard to imagine who else 

might do it. 

While American Catholics grapple 

with the fallout from the horrors of 

Monsey, therefore, it might be a good 

moment to take stock of the broader 

landscape of religious hatred in the 

early 21st century, and to ponder where 

an incisive Catholic contribution might 

make a difference. 

Perhaps this generation can produce 

its own Cardinals Bea and Willebrands, 

with the dedication and imagination to 

lead a similar Catholic “great awakening” 

in defense not only of Jews, 

but all victims of religious bigotry and 

oppression. Certainly, embattled fellow 

Christians around the world likely 

would appreciate the effort. 

John L. Allen Jr. is the editor of Crux. 

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Losing their 

religion? 

AMAZON 

Ribay didn’t win, but I ended up reading his book, which 

intrigued me from its dedication “to the hyphenated” to its 

unsatisfactory ending. 

The novel is a kind of Huckleberry Finn story told by Tom 

Sawyer who is a kind of Filipino-American modern-day 

Holden Caulfield (a Caulfield with a more extensive and 

R-rated vocabulary). Cousin “Jun” (for Junior) is the Huck 

Finn type and is three days younger than Jason “Jay” Reguero, 

his first cousin. 

Jay’s mother is an American doctor, his father a nurse. 

When Jay visited the Philippines as a child, the two bonded 

quickly. They began a pen-pal correspondence hampered by 

Jun’s father’s refusal to allow the use of the internet. After a 

while, Jay was distracted and the cousins lost contact. 

Then Jun is killed by vigilantes, encouraged by President 

Rodrigo Duterte, allegedly because he is a drug dealer. Grief 

brings about a crisis in Jay’s thoughts about himself, his family, 

and his identity as a Filipino-American (a “hyphenated” 

like those to whom the novel is dedicated). 

The situation of the Philippines fills him with horror. What 

he learns about Duterte’s bloody repression of drug traffic 

shocks him: “It’s crazy and sad and shameful that all of this 

had been going on for the past three years, and I basically 

knew nothing about it.” 

He feels alienated from his pot-smoking, atheistic, video-game 

buddy whose reaction to the news is, “No wonder 

you’re getting existential all of a sudden.” The friend also 

says, “I forget you’re a Filipino.” This leads to Jay’s conclusion: 

“It’s a sad thing when you map the borders of a friendship 

and find it’s a narrower country than expected.” 

The first part of the novel is a poignant treatment of coming-of-age 

and wrestling with identity. Then Jay convinces 

his parents to let him go to the Philippines during his senior 

year spring break. 

Although they should know he is motivated by guilt, they 

give permission when he promises not to ask his uncle about 

Jun’s death. The uncle, Tito Maning, is an important police 

official and so Jay plans his own private investigation, presuming 

that there has been some kind of cover-up. 

This turns the novel into an adventure story reminiscent of 

Anthony Horowitz’ Alex Rider books. 

A Filipino-American coming-of-age 

story highlights the need to tend to 

‘hyphenated’ Catholics 

BY MSGR. RICHARD ANTALL / ANGELUS 

A 

sleepless night watching C-Span’s National Book 

Awards program led me to Randy Ribay’s “Patron 

Saints of Nothing” (Kokila, $13.74), a story about a 

Filipino-American high-schooler in Michigan who goes to 

the Philippines to investigate the death of his cousin. 

Randy Ribay 

AMAZON 


ERIK DE CASTRO/REUTERS VIA CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE 

An image of Our Lady of Lourdes in Manila, Philippines, on the coffin 

of Kian Delos Santos, 17, shot in an escalation of President Rodrigo 

Duterte’s war on drugs in 2017. 

The plot bounces along on a series of revelations, some of 

which inspire and others appall him: his tyrannical uncle 

had disowned Jun, a kind of holy innocent; he then had 

gone to live with Jay’s lesbian aunt; then with a former prostitute, 

from whom he hid the fact that he had an anti-government 

web page and that he had turned to crystal meth, 

eventually selling it on the streets and being murdered for 

being a drug pusher. 

Jun was, besides, a great reader of cutting-edge books in various 

languages, and all of this before he was 18 years of age. 

Interspersed with this thread of investigation are observations 

of modern Manila, caught between Third World 

squalor and First World aspirations. Jay goes to an ice-skating 

rink in sweltering Manila and the power goes off. The 

air-conditioning of his uncle’s car and house is also a symbol 

of the contrasts of Philippine culture. 

Hampered by his lack of Tagalog, Jay nevertheless discovers 

some interesting facts about history and culture, colonialism 

and nationalism, and the current politics of atheist strongman 

Duterte, his uncle’s hero, and the world’s indifference 

to the corruption and injustice. Duterte’s opposition to the 

Catholics is not mentioned, but the novel shows a thumbnail 

sketch of a foreign society in stress, which is more than 

can be said of most fiction for young people. 

I found the novel informative in details. Like the Salvadorans 

I worked with for 20 years, Filipinos point to people and 

things with their lips; they also love chicharrón; there are 

more than 170 languages and dialects spoken on the islands; 

American involvement in their history is deeper than most of 

us would be aware, etc. 

In the midst of Jay’s investigation, we are given a kind of 

Cook’s tour of Manila, with mention of monuments and museums, 

parks, and malls. 

The gay trope in a young adult novel is probably de rigueur 

these days, but there seems to be an embarras de richesses in 

this regard that betrays. Jay’s brother Chris, his cousin Grace, 

and his aunt are all in homosexual relationships. Jay fervently 

wishes his aunt could “marry” her partner. 

His own hetero credentials are established, however, by his 

crush on a beautiful black student at his lily-white suburban 

high school. The girl refused his prom invitation, but the 

sister of his cousin Grace’s “friend” sparks his interest as they 

investigate Jun’s death. The ideological component behind 

“Patron Saints of Nothing” seems as creative as painting by 

numbers. 

That title is what made me want to read the novel, but is 

only tangential to its plot. I was interested in what Ribay 

reflects of contemporary Filipino attitudes toward religion. I 

have no idea of how representative he is. 

His hero Jay has lost his Catholic religion and various 

anti-clerical sentiments are mouthed by him and Jun’s 

sister Grace. A beautiful church was built “on the backs of 

the poor,” priests hide their corruption by their power, etc. 

Duterte is praised by the police chief for passing out contraceptive 

pills as if this is an unarguable point in his favor. 

The reflex prejudice against the Church which is found 

in so many “creative” sectors of society makes me think of 

St. John Henry Newman’s comment about the Anglican 

church of his day: “The talent is against us.” 

Jay has a certain ambivalence about religion, however, 

as does his creator. Jay’s family has lost their religion: his 

brother is a gay scientist and his sister a drug-using college 

student. His mother and father no longer go to church, 

although Jay admits to almost missing going to Mass. 

Nevertheless, his Tito Danilo is a priest who is shown more 

or less favorably. He reveals the sordid ending of Jun’s life, 

but also leads a cathartic prayer service for his nephew that 

reunites the family. His words at the service are what suggest 

the title of the novel. 

The attitudes reflected in the novel made me wonder how 

hyphenated first- and second-generation Filipino-Americans 

are keeping the faith. 

The great Catholic American novelist Walker Percy said 

novelists are like the parakeets in the mines. The birds died 

if there was not enough oxygen, warning the miners of danger. 

Is Ribay such a parakeet in terms of Filipino-American 

religiosity? Is his fiction an early warning sign? 

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has many projects 

about issues in contemporary society, some of which 

might be said to produce more heat than light. Is anyone 

doing research on the religious practice and formation of the 

hyphenated ethnics besides the Hispanics? 

What about the Asian Catholics from the Philippines, 

Vietnam, and Korea — are their young people hanging 

on? That is the concern about the Hispanics, reflected 

in the Quinto Encuentro, but is there any data on other 

groups? Immigration and assimilation take more of a toll on 

Catholic youth now that the Church’s education system has 

drastically changed shape. 

Are the hyphenated Catholic Americans losing their religion? 

Shouldn’t someone be watching? 

Msgr. Richard Antall is pastor of Holy Name Church in 

Cleveland, Ohio, and author of the new book “The Wedding” 

(Lambing Press, $16.95). 


KARIN HILDEBRAND LAU/SHUTTERSTOCK 

A rally at the California State Capitol. 

CHANGING 

AMERICA 

BY RUBEN NAVARRETTE 

Making California 

great again 

My resolution for my beloved 

but beleaguered home state of 

California is both simple and 

complicated: Be better. 

In fact, Old Girl, don’t feel like you’re 

limited to just the next 346 days. Let’s 

make this resolution a special one, 

and push it forward through the next 

decade. 

What will the most populous, and 

most misunderstood, state in the union 

look like in the year 2030? 

It was once said that, in the Golden 

State, the streets were paved with, well, 

gold. But, if we’re being honest, in the 

last 10 years the avenues have been 

strewn with homeless people. 

Homelessness is just one of the reasons 

that many Californians are either 

leaving the state, or thinking about 

doing so. 

A poll by the Public Policy Institute of 

California found that 48% of residents 

believe the state is going in the wrong 

direction. 

Some people will tell you that 

California’s homeless crisis is a direct 

result of what has become a severe 

lack of affordable housing and the fact 

that rental fees and home prices have 

continued to soar. 

Could be. It sometimes feels as if you 

have to rob banks to live here. In 2017, 

the median price of a home in California 

was more than 2.5 times the median 

price nationwide. In the five largest 

cities — Los Angeles, San Diego, San 

Jose, San Francisco, and Fresno — the 

median home price ranges between 

$500,000 and $1.5 million. 

Other people claim liberal policies are 

to blame, citing permissive regulations 

that make it more difficult for cities to 

remove homeless people. 

Makes sense. If you want to see a 

Democratic-controlled city government 

get tough in shuffling the homeless off 

the streets, just wait until the Democratic 

National Convention comes 

to town. The homeless get removed 

faster than you can say, “San Francisco 

1984.” 

Still other people say that the surge in 

the homeless population comes from 

the fact that many of those who have 

nowhere to live have decided that they 

might as well live in a warmer climate. 

That is also possible. California still 

has plenty of sunshine, although the 

state’s 40 million residents can be 

forgiven for thinking that state officials 

have begun “taxing” this natural 

resource by making it so expensive to 

live here. 

Time for a qualifier. It’s true that 

one in five California residents live in 

poverty when you factor in the cost of 

housing and child care. And it doesn’t 

make the state any more affordable, as 

the taxes are brutal, with a state sales 

tax of 7.25% and a top state income tax 

rate of 12.3%. 

Groceries, gas, and entertainment 

are all more expensive than they are 

in neighboring states like Oregon, Nevada, 

or Arizona. This is due, in part, 

to a state minimum wage that, in 2020, 

will grow to $12 per hour, on its way to 

$15 per hour in 2023. 

But as I was recently reminded by a 

friend who, a few years ago moved from 

Texas to California, the property taxes 

here are actually quite the bargain compared 

to what they are in other states. 

Thank you, Proposition 13. The 1978 

ballot initiative amended the state 

constitution to limit the tax rate for real 

estate. 

Also, wages and salaries in California 

often tend to be higher than they are 

elsewhere. 


M ARIA IM M ACUL ATA SPE S N OST RA 

Remember that $12-per-hour minimum 

wage? The national figure is 

$7.25 per hour, and it hasn’t budged for 

the last decade. So, in California, you 

spend more but also tend to earn more. 

But let’s look ahead to the next decade. 

There is no question that this state 

has seen better days. 

The heyday was probably between the 

1930s and 1960s, where everyone from 

Okies like Merle Haggard’s kinfolk to 

Armenians eager to till the soil of the 

Central Valley to the Beverly Hillbillies 

thought California was the place they 

ought to be. 

Walt Disney gazed into Southern 

California orange groves and caught 

a glimpse of Tomorrowland. Gov. 

Edmund “Pat” Brown Sr. built highways 

into the sky and a public university 

system that became a model for 

the country. For California, the 2020s 

should be the “Quality of Life” decade. 

Whether it’s creating movies and television 

shows, iPhones, and laptops, or 

fruit and vegetables, the state remains 

enormously productive. We produce 

more than our share of goods. 

But we’re also living way beyond our 

means. Our state leaders and lawmakers, 

starting with Gov. Gavin Newsom, 

need to craft a new “Marshall Plan” for 

the state. 

Like the blueprint that rebuilt Europe 

after World War II, a new plan for California 

would help make the state more 

affordable, more livable, and more 

user-friendly to business, investment, 

and retirees. 

We need to cut taxes, trim regulations, 

build reservoirs, get workers for agriculture, 

build affordable housing, reform 

the school system, and rein in public 

employee pensions. And that’s just for 

starters. 

To borrow a phrase, it’s time to “Make 

California Great Again.” 

Angelus AD Dec 2019.indd 1 

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IMMACULATE HEART 

EST 

1906 

11/22/2019 3:59:59 PM 

Ruben Navarrette is a contributing 

editor to Angelus, a syndicated columnist 

with The Washington Post Writers 

Group, and a columnist for the Daily 

Beast. He is a radio host, a frequent 

guest analyst on cable news, a member 

of the USA Today Board of Contributors, 

and host of the podcast “Navarrette 

Nation.” Among his books are “A 

Darker Shade of Crimson: Odyssey of a 

Harvard Chicano.” 


Middle School Entrance Exam 

Saturday, January 18, 2020 at 8:30 a.m. 

High School Entrance Exam for 

Admission & Merit Scholarships 

Saturday, January 18, 2020 at 8:30 a.m. 

“Educating the Hearts & Minds of Young Women Since 1906” 

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‘Marriage Story’ is our story 

Netflix’s new tragic 

tale of family failure 

is one of the best 

films on marriage 

ever made 

BY STEFANO REBEGGIANI / 

ANGELUS 

Netflix describes its new film 

“Marriage Story” as a “compassionate 

look at a marriage 

coming apart and a family staying 

together,” but that is a rather optimistic 

assessment. It does not have a 

happy ending. 

It is also one of the best movies on 

marriage ever made. 

A delicate tragedy that looks with 

immoderate compassion and unconventional 

sincerity at the limits of human 

love, director Noah Baumbach 

serves us up with a truth that is hard 

to look at, but whose contemplation 

might, in the end, leave the door 

open for hope (spoilers ahead). 

In a delicate ruse, the movie begins 

with each character reading a list of 

things they love about their partner. 

I’d consider myself most fortunate 

if my wife wrote only a half of what 

Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) has to say 

about her husband. Charlie (Adam 

Driver) cleans up, sews, keeps the 

house in order, takes all his wife’s 

moods steadily and never makes her 

feel bad about them, and even loves 

to wake up in the dead of night to 

tend to their child. 

He is a great father and a self-made 

man who made it as a director in an 

experimental theater company in 

New York, coming from a childhood 

of alcohol and parental abuse. 

Nicole is nothing less. From a 

Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, and Azhy Robertson in “Marriage Story.” 

family of actors in Los Angeles, she 

has left a career in the film industry 

to follow Charlie to New York, where 

she stars in his experimental plays. In 

Charlie’s words, she is a great mother 

who loves to play with her child, 

makes the best presents, and knows 

when to push him and when to leave 

him alone. 

Soon we discover, however, that 

these letters have been written at the 

behest of a divorce mediator. The 

couple is coming apart, and when 

the two come together in the counselor’s 

office, Nicole refuses to read her 

letter and storms outside. 

The initial letters make sure we 

realize these two are no average couple, 

and that they are made for each 

other. Their marriage isn’t falling 

to pieces because they married the 

wrong person. Quite the opposite: 

Being made for being together, they 

are unable to. 

The point is reinforced by the 

movie’s final scene. After a destructive 

legal battle, Charlie and Nicole 

come to an agreement about child 

custody. Nicole has started a successful 

TV career and lives with a new 

partner in LA. 

Happy ending? Hardly. When Charlie 

comes to visit his son, he chances 

upon Nicole’s letter. As he reads it, 

he melts into tears (trust me, watching 

Adam Driver crying is, by itself, 

worth a Netflix subscription), not 

noticing that Nicole, also profoundly 

NETFLIX 



distraught, is watching him. 

We are told that before meeting 

Charlie, she was dating a not-sospecial 

guy from LA. Then she met 

Charlie and everything in her life 

became possible. But at the end of 

the movie, she is back to dating an 

ordinary man, and Charlie is alone. 

“But alone is alone, not alive!” is 

what Charlie sings in a bar at night 

in front of his theater crew, a touching 

performance by Driver of a song 

from the 1970 musical “Company.” 

Sure, life goes on, but both characters 

have left behind the love of their 

life. 

So, what’s driving them apart? The 

truth comes to light most painfully 

in a devastating argument toward the 

end of the film. Yes, Charlie cheated 

“The Marriage at Cana,” by Maerten de Vos, circa 1596. 

on Nicole, we learn, but that was 

only after he was sleeping on the 

couch. 

More damaging was his selfishness: 

It seemed impossible for Charlie to 

realize that his whole life plan did 

not automatically take into account 

his wife’s happiness as well. 

The divorce enables Nicole to 

finally make her voice be heard and 

begin a new life, no longer in her 

husband’s shadow. 

Yet, one feels that deep down Nicole 

may only want to get her husband to 

realize how much he has hurt her, 

to go back to exist for him, not away 

from him. 

The movie shows both characters 

fighting, and losing, against their own 

limitations. Charlie’s love is limited 

by his selfishness, which he is clearly 

unable to overcome. Nicole is unable 

to forgive, and quite simply can’t take 

the pain of living as a prop in the 

great show of Charlie’s life. 

Both are unable to let the other take 

a piece of their happiness, a piece 

of their life. Part of the quiet beauty 

of “Marriage Story” is that it looks at 

both partners, and indeed, at all couples, 

without a hint of judgment: We 

are all limited, and wounded. None 

of us can let themselves be trampled 

upon. Our love can only go so far. 

In the Gospel narrative of the wedding 

of Cana, Mary notices that the 

wine is running out. She pleads with 

Jesus to help the newlyweds, but he 

first reproaches her for forcing him to 

anticipate his revelation, but eventually 

obliges. The master of ceremony 

is puzzled. 

“Everyone serves the good wine at 

the beginning, and keeps the bad 

one for the end, when everybody is 

drunk. But you have kept the good 

wine till the end,” he exclaims. 

Wine is a crucial symbol in the 

Bible, representing both joy and love. 

Before dying on the cross, Jesus is 

forced to drink vinegar, the sour wine 

of humanity’s selfishness, yet his sacrifice 

grants access to the wine (the 

joy) of the Promised Land. 

In every marriage, no matter how 

perfect for one another the partners, 

the good wine will run out. Why? 

“Marriage Story” offers a profound 

answer. 

As the German poet Rainer Maria 

Rilke put it, “This is the paradox of 

love between man and woman: two 

infinites meet two limitations, two 

infinite needs to be loved meet two 

fragile and limited capacities to love.” 

But this terrifying truth does not 

come without hope. A compassionate 

look at human failure is the precondition 

for grace, for those who know 

that water can be changed into wine. 

It is Mary’s compassionate look at 

the newlyweds of Cana. It is this look 

that encourages us to beg for new 

wine, in marriage as in life. 

Stefano Rebeggiani is an assistant 

professor of Classics at the University 

of Southern California. 


THE CRUX 

BY HEATHER KING 

Descending 

into reverie 

Making resolutions to live better at 

St. James’ classical music concerts 

For years during the 1990s when I lived in Koreatown, 

I’d attend the Sunday afternoon Bing Theater classical 

music concerts at LACMA. After almost a quarter of 

a century, the concerts have now moved a couple of miles 

east, to St. James’ Episcopal Church on Wilshire Boulevard 

and St. Andrew’s Place. Part of the larger “Great Music at 

St. James” series, the programs are free, open to the public, 

and start at 6 p.m. 

You can go to kusc.org for weekly downloads of Sundays 

Live. But why not make the trek, at least once, and take in 

the whole experience? 

On Dec. 29, I attended a concert featuring the Hollywood 

Piano Trio: Roberto Cani on violin, Robert deMaine on 

cello, and Inna Faliks on piano. The occasion was the celebration 

of Beethoven’s 250th birthday. 

Free parking is available across from the church at 3926 

Wilshire Blvd. The church is also close to the Wilshire/ 

Western stop on the Metro Purple Line. 

I arrived a bit early to find the courtyard beautifully decorated 

for Christmas with lights strung above and wrapping 

the tree trunks. Both the security guard and a friendly fellow 

concertgoer delivered a warm greeting. There are tables 

in the courtyard and also a large adjacent reception area 

with several more good-sized tables, plus restrooms and free 

coffee, tea, and cookies. 

Many apparently make the concert part of their routine, 

meeting friends and hobnobbing beforehand. A large group 

of 70-somethings made merry, while several solo travelers sat 

quietly with hopeful smiles at their own tables. 

The doors open at 5:30 p.m. St. James’ is worth visiting 

alone for its stunning Gothic Revival sanctuary, completed 

in 1926 and featuring tiled floors, redwood ceiling beams 

and trusses, and Judson Studio-designed stained-glass panels. 

The altar was banked with poinsettias and white candles. 

Wreaths adorned the arches. 

Hollywood Piano Trio promotional image. 

Seating in the front pews fills up fast and is quite cozy. I 

nabbed an aisle seat and an older couple squeezed past, 

then stood to crane and wave at friends. “Oh there’s Rebecca!” 

“Look, Felix is down front!” 

The man then proceeded to keep up a running commentary: 

the bike rack he bought “for a very good price” on 

eBay, “I don’t know who Masha is,” and “Lol means lots of 

laughs you know.” (This unfortunately extended into the 

concert: when during the sublime third movement of Beethoven’s 

“Archduke Trio” he stage-whispered to his partner, 

“I know this piece very well,” it was all I could do to not 

reach over and slap him). 

But this is all part of the serendipitous fun of a free concert, 

and I enjoyed every moment. 

The Sundays Live concerts consistently feature top-rate 

musicians. Roberto Cani, concertmaster of the LA Opera 

Orchestra, is internationally known. Robert deMaine is 

principal cellist for the LA Phil. 

Ukranian-born Inna Faliks is professor of Piano and head 

of Piano at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music. The trio 

played from the area immediately in front of the altar, thereby 

adding to the up-close-and-personal aura. 

In fact, the setting was so intimate that I could spot the gold 

buckles on Cani’s loafers, note that deMaine’s eyes were 

SUNDAYS LIVE 

C 


closed much of the time as he played, and worry that Faliks, 

who wore a glittery top with cutout shoulders, was cold (the 

church was freezing). 

During Anton Arensky’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, 

Opus 32, I descended into reverie over a very interesting 

article I once read about page turners, the “ghostly stewards 

of the piano who work to remain invisible while ensuring a 

sparkling performance,” as Sean Fitz-Gerald of The Denver 

Post put it. 

This page turner had a short beard, arty glasses, and dark 

red sneakers. Boy would I find that job nerve-racking. No 

descending into reverie there! 

Beethoven’s Piano Trio in B-flat Major, Opus 97, popularly 

known as the “Archduke Trio,” is well-known to me, too, as 

I’ve listened to it probably 200 times in my car while driving 

the freeways and stuck in traffic. 

So named because Beethoven dedicated it (along with, 

eventually, 13 other compositions) to his friend and patron 

Archduke Rudolph of Austria, the trio was completed in 

1811, during what is known as Beethoven’s “middle period.” 

I personally can never remember facts like those, however, 

and instead go by how the piece makes me feel, which 

in this case included an anguished longing for eternity, 

incoherent joy, and a deep compassion for all of humanity, 

especially the guy beside me who, similarly enraptured, had 

at last fallen into silence before Beethoven’s genius and the 

three masterful musicians of the Hollywood Piano Trio. 

I’m not alone: Composer Igor Stravinsky once declared, “I 

St. James’ Episcopal Church in Koreatown, Los Angeles. 

haven’t understood a bar of music in my life, but I have felt 

it.” Excellent music makes us want to do better, to be kinder, 

to engage in less idle chatter. 

So don’t be shy, or think that classical music is “above” 

you. And if you’re a music expert and aficionado, you’ll love 

the concerts, too. 

Upcoming programs include Neal Stulberg and flutist Anastasia 

Petanova (Jan. 19), Crossroads Chamber Orchestra 

(Jan. 26), and the New England Conservatory (Feb. 2). 

Wishing one and all an adventure-filled 2020. 

ST. JAMES’ EPISCOPAL CHURCH 

Heather King is a blogger, speaker, and the author of several books. 

Archbishop José H. Gomez invites you to join him 

July 8-13 in Mexico City 

Come Come experience one one of of the the most most beautiful of of shrines with Archbishop Gomez & Monsignor Jim Jim Halley, Halley, Vicar Vicar for for Clergy Clergy 

Our Our visit visit will will include the the Nation Museum of Anthropology, Excursion to to Puebla, Puebla, 

Tulpetlac Tulpetlac and and Coyoacan, Shrine of Fr. Fr. Miguel Pro, Pro, Xochimilco, Xochimilco, 

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Metropolitan 

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Under the direction of Judy Brooks, Archbishop’s Office of Special Services 

Under the direction of Judy Brooks, Archbishop’s Office of Special Services 

Call Judy or Mary Kay Delsohn at (213) 637-7520 

Call Judy or Mary Kay Delsohn at (213) 637-7520 

Pilgrimage Travel planned by our friends at Catholic Travel Centre, Burbank 

Pilgrimage Travel planned by our friends at Catholic Travel Centre, Burbank 


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10 days Sept. 17 - 26, 2020 ~ Fr Jim Gehl 

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Angelus News | January 10, 2020 | Vol. 5 No. 1

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