Angelus News | April 24 - May 1, 2020

ANGELUS 

NO SOUL 

LEFT BEHIND 

Chaplains on the 

pandemic front lines 

April 24-May 1, 2020 Vol. 5 No. 14

Join the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Official 

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land 

11 Days: October 26 to November 5, 2020 

Under the Spiritual 

Leadership of 

Archbishop José H. Gomez 

along with: 

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land 

including Bethlehem, Sea of Galilee, 

Nazareth, Jerusalem, and much more! 

$4,299 from Los Angeles (LAX) 

plus $195 in tips 

Bishop 

David 

O’Connell 

Msgr. 

Antonio 

Cacciapuoti 

Space is limited – sign up today! 

Fr. 

James 

Anguiano 

Fr. 

Parker 

Sandoval 

Download a brochure and registration form today at 

GoCatholicTravel.com/20033 

Contact: Mrs. Judy Brooks, Director 

Archbishop’s Office for Special Services 

(213) 637-7551 or pilgrimage@la-archdiocese.org 

CST#: 2018667–40

Contents 

Pope Watch 2 

Archbishop Gomez 3 

World, Nation, and Local News 4-6 

Scott Hahn on Scripture 8 

Father Rolheiser 9 

Loaves, fishes, and saints-in-the-making in Lennox 14 

John L. Allen: Predicting the next chapter of the Pell saga 18 

Poetry to help us during the plague 20 

Making your contrition perfect, with or without confession 22 

How parenting puts a pandemic in perspective 26 

At an empty Easter Vigil, a word of hope for RCIA catechumens 28 

Kris McGregor: A modern saint to help us with the rosary 30 

Heather King: The painstaking work of a patient wood refinisher 32 

t 

3 

ON THE COVER 

Father Chris Ponnet is pastor of the St. Camillus Catholic Center for 

Pastoral Care and a chaplain at the nearby Los Angeles County+USC 

Medical Center. On Page 10, Father Ponnet and other LA-area chaplains 

describe how their mission has been impacted at a time when many patients 

with the coronavirus (COVID-19) are forced to suffer in isolation. 

IMAGE: Archbishop José H. Gomez celebrates Mass on April 19, Divine Mercy 

Sunday, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, as seen from the 

home of Angelus photo editor Victor Alemán. Local TV stations KCOP 

(channel 13) and UniMas (channel 46) have been carrying live broadcasts 

of Sunday Mass from the cathedral in English and Spanish, respectively. 

VICTOR ALEMÁN 


April 24-May 1, 2020 • ANGELUS • 1

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April 24-May 1, 2020 

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2 • ANGELUS • April 24-May 1, 2020 

POPE WATCH 

Emergency measures 

In the time of Easter, Pope Francis 

has called on countries to take serious 

measures to lift up the world’s poor in 

a time of pandemic-related economic 

distress, while also reminding faithful 

that living the faith without the sacraments 

is “dangerous.” 

Writing to social movements, including 

organized groups of casual laborers, 

Pope Francis said the coronavirus 

(COVID-19) pandemic should give 

rise to consideration of “a universal 

basic wage” to guarantee people have 

the minimum they need to live and 

support their families. 

“Street vendors, recyclers, carnies, 

small farmers, construction workers, 

dressmakers, the different kinds of 

caregivers: you who are informal, working 

on your own or in the grassroots 

economy, you have no steady income 

to get you through this hard time,” 

Pope Francis wrote in the letter, dated 

April 12. 

“The ills that afflict everyone hit you 

twice as hard,” the pope wrote. “Many 

of you live from day to day, without 

any type of legal guarantee to protect 

you.” 

The Holy Father did not say whether 

he meant the idea as a permanent policy 

or simply as a temporary response 

to the poverty and unemployment 

caused by the pandemic. 

Pope Francis said he hoped the 

pandemic would serve to “free us from 

operating on automatic pilot [and] 

shake our sleepy consciences” in order 

to spark a conversion that “puts an end 

to the idolatry of money and places 

human life and dignity at the center.” 

“Our civilization — so competitive, 

so individualistic ... needs to downshift, 

take stock, and renew itself,” he 

wrote. 

In his “urbi et orbi” (“to the city and 

the world”) address delivered the same 

day, the pontiff called for the lifting 

of international sanctions imposed 

on certain countries to put pressure 

on them, but which now make the 

suffering of their people unbearable, 

and for a forgiveness, or at least reduction, 

of the foreign debt of the world’s 

poorest nations. 

“Indifference, self-centeredness, division, 

and forgetfulness are not words 

we want to hear at this time,” he said. 

Yet, “they seem to prevail when fear 

and death overwhelm us, that is, when 

we do not let the Lord Jesus triumph 

in our hearts and lives.” 

A few days later on April 17, the Holy 

Father reminded faithful following his 

daily morning Mass via livestream that 

online Masses and spiritual communion 

do not represent the Church. 

“This is the Church in a difficult 

situation that the Lord is allowing, 

but the ideal of the Church is always 

with the people and with the sacraments 

— always,” Pope Francis said in 

his homily, given in the chapel of his 

Santa Marta residence. 

By broadcasting his morning Mass, 

for example, people are in communion, 

but they are not “together,” he 

said. 

The very small number of people 

present at his daily morning Mass will 

receive the Eucharist, he said, but not 

the people watching online who will 

only have “spiritual Communion.” 

“This is not the Church,” Pope 

Francis said. 

People are living this “familiarity 

with the Lord” apart from one another 

in order to “get out of the tunnel, not 

to stay in it.” 

Reporting courtesy of Catholic News 

Service. 

Papal Prayer Intention for May: We pray that deacons, faithful in their service 

to the word and the poor, may be an invigorating symbol for the entire Church.

NEW WORLD 

OF FAITH 

BY ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ 

See how they love one another 

We continue in this extraordinary 

Easter season, and as this time of 

quarantine and stay-at-home orders 

stretches on, it is frustrating for all of 

us. 

We want our lives to return to 

normal. And we especially want to go 

back to church and the sacraments. 

I know I speak for every priest when 

I say we miss you. We are united in 

prayer, but we long for the comfort 

of just being together in the same 

church, praying and sharing our faith. 

I am grateful to be connected to you 

through the internet, to pray with you 

and to offer the Mass. Every Mass 

unites heaven and earth, and every 

celebration of the Eucharist makes 

present the gift that Jesus made of his 

life for each one of us and for the life 

of the world. 

But a “virtual Mass” is still virtual. It 

can be a beautiful way to be connected 

when there is nothing else we can 

do. But it is not the same as seeing one 

another face-to-face, drawn together in 

the fellowship of Christ. 

Obviously, the deepest questions 

raised by this pandemic are about God 

and his designs. Where is he and what 

is he saying to us in this moment — 

what is he saying to his Church, to the 

nations of the world, to each of us in 

our own personal circumstances? 

In my own reflections I see God 

calling us, in a most dramatic way, to 

realize how much we need him, how 

we cannot live without him. But I also 

see God calling us to a deeper sense of 

solidarity, to realize that we are responsible 

for one another, that we depend 

on one another and we have to take 

care of one another. 

In the first century of Christianity 

— in fact, it was during one of the 

plagues in the Roman Empire — nonbelievers 

marveled at the charity and 

compassion of Christians. “See how 

they love one another,” they would say. 

And it has been beautiful for me to 

witness so many of you showing your 

love for God by serving your neighbors 

in this time of crisis. 

Although our Catholic school buildings 

are closed, we are still educating 

tens of thousands of young people 

every day through distance learning. 

And we are feeding thousands of poor 

children every day, offering “grab and 

go” meals at our schools. In the past 

month alone, we provided more than 

300,000 meals. 

And although our church buildings 

are closed, our parishes remain 

“open.” We are helping people in our 

food pantries, and giving financial 

assistance to our neighbors who need 

food, clothing, and shelter. 

Our Hearts to Serve hotline is 

assisting hundreds of people seeking 

everything from help paying their bills 

to mental health resources. 

We are seeing the beautiful network 

of compassion that we have in the 

Church, with agencies like the Knights 

of Columbus, the St. Vincent de Paul 

Society, Catholic Charities, and our 

archdiocesan Catholic Communication 

Collaboration (C3) program, all 

coming together to serve. 

We are helping the elderly and the 

sick. We are giving financial support 

to community groups like Habitat for 

Humanity that are providing housing 

and medical care to the homeless. 

Those of us who cannot serve with 

our hands are serving with our hearts 

— praying and offering our sacrifices 

and sufferings for others. 

It is inspiring and beautiful. Through 

the witness of your love, our neighbors 

can see the presence of the risen Lord, 

even in this time of affliction and 

adversity. 

It is hard, but in this time, I think 

God is asking us to share in the insecurities 

and deprivations that define 

ordinary life for millions of people 

in nations around the world. We are 

being forced to do without what most 

of our brothers and sisters never had 

to begin with. That is something we 

should pray about and reflect on. 

We are all struggling right now because 

we cannot have access to public 

Mass or the sacraments. This is a hard 

cross to bear. But maybe God is asking 

us to share in the sufferings of the 

millions of Catholics who live under 

regimes that repress or persecute the 

faith. These brothers and sisters of ours 

hunger and thirst for the sacraments 

and cannot receive them. This is their 

daily reality. And their pain will not 

end when this pandemic passes. 

So, let us intensify our prayers and 

sacrifices for them, and let us continue 

to love one another in this time when 

faith is tested. Let us join our sufferings 

to Our Lord’s passion in his living 

Body, his Church. Let us offer our sufferings 

for every person who is bearing 

greater burdens than we are. 

Pray for me and I will pray for you. 

And may our Blessed Mother Mary 

continue to intercede for us and help 

us to love and to serve, and to bring 

the mercy and peace of her Son to our 

neighbors. 

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


WORLD 

French president sticking to Notre Dame pledge 

One year after fire consumed the 

Notre Dame Cathedral, French 

President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed 

his commitment to restore 

this “symbol of society’s resilience.” 

His words received a warm 

response from Paris Archbishop 

Michel Aupetit. “This is certainly 

a moment of global emotion and 

witness,” Archbishop Aupetit told 

Radio Notre Dame April 15. 

The archbishop added that after a 

series of Holy Week ceremonies, the 

president’s announcement celebrat- 

ed life over death. “It’s more important 

to show the cathedral is alive than to 

celebrate such a sad anniversary,” he 

said. 

Even amid the coronavirus (COV- 

IS-19) crisis, Macron highlighted the 

host of architects, artisans, and donors 

working to rebuild the cathedral. The 

cathedral is expected to reopen in April 

2024. 

“The French will again rediscover the 

joy of being together,” stated Macron, 

“and the spire of Notre Dame will 

once again rise toward heaven.” 

French President Emmanuel Macron (left) 

with Archbishop Michel Aupetit in 2018. 

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/LUDOVIC MARIN, POOL VIA REUTERS 

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO/AMMAR AWAD, REUTERS 

Plague returns for a second act in German town 

For almost four centuries, the German 

village of Oberammergau has 

performed a large-scale reenactment 

of the Passion every 10 years, which 

they vowed to do in thanks to God for 

curing their village of bubonic plague 

in 1633. 

But this year’s scheduled “Passion 

Play,” which normally draws thousands 

of spectators from around the world, 

has been postponed in the most ironic 

fashion. 

“Social distancing hurts when 

social contact is your livelihood,” an 

Oberammergau hotel owner, whose 

bookings have dropped to zero since 

the coronavirus pandemic reached 

Germany, told The New York Times 

April 5. 

The play has been delayed a handful 

of times in its long history, including in 

1920 and 1940 due to both world wars. 

Although the village has had no cases 

of the coronavirus, Germany’s lockdown 

led health officials to rule the 

performance too risky. 

HOLY WEEK IN THE HOLY LAND — Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, apostolic administrator 

of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, blesses two Franciscans on Holy Thursday, April 

9, inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 

Jerusalem’s Old City. 

Spain: Church gets 

bipartisan kudos 

Mayors in a country hit hard by the 

coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic 

are singling out the Catholic Church 

for its heroism during the crisis. 

Madrid Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida, 

of the center-right People’s 

Party, sent a note April 12 to each 

priest of the Archdiocese of Madrid, expressing 

gratitude for their “quiet and 

heroic labor” and their “support for the 

most vulnerable, your dedication to the 

sick, for whom you pray every day and 

to whom you bring the sacraments, 

ensuring their spiritual consolation and 

that of their family members,” according 

to Catholic News Agency. 

Another mayor of the People’s Party, 

María José Martínez de la Fuente of 

Aranjuez, wrote a similar letter April 

14 thanking priests for their “tireless 

efforts to be there for the final farewell 

for our citizens who are dying as a 

result of this coronavirus pandemic.” 

Mayors from the other side of the political 

aisle who’ve praised the Church 

include Socialist Party mayor Raquel 

Jimeno of Ciempozuelos, who wrote 

“GRACIAS” in her message. 

“What they are doing is priceless,” 

said Jimeno of Church workers. “The 

Church, in our town, has a great role 

in this fight and it is necessary to thank 

them in capital letters.” 

4 • ANGELUS • April 24-May 1, 2020

NATION 

DAVID MCNAMARA/DIOCESE OF LAS CRUCES 

TAKING THE FIRST STEP — Bishop Peter Baldacchino of Las Cruces, New Mexico, 

distributes Communion during the Easter Vigil to a family parked in the cathedral parking 

lot, where cars were separated by a parking space to observe social distance. Bishop 

Baldacchino became the first U.S. prelate to lift a diocesan ban on public Mass April 15, 

but told priests they could resume sacramental ministry only if they followed the state’s 

strict health mandates. 

New York’s papal prayers 

When Cardinal Timothy Dolan of 

New York answered the phone April 

14, he suddenly found himself speaking 

with Pope Francis. 

In a statement that afternoon, 

Cardinal Dolan reported that the 

Holy Father called him “to express his 

love, concern, and closeness to all the 

people of New York, especially those 

who are sick, during the coronavirus 

outbreak.” More than 10,000 people 

in the metropolis have died from the 

coronavirus (COVID-19). 

The pope also expressed particular 

concern for the Diocese of Brooklyn 

and Queens, where two priests, Father 

Jorge Ortiz and Father Gioacchino 

Basile, died from the coronavirus. 

“I am humbled to have received 

prayers and condolences from our 

Holy Father, Pope Francis,” said Bishop 

Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn. 

“It is comforting to know Pope Francis 

joins with us in solidarity. We are one 

Church, and together the people of 

God will get through these most difficult 

times.” 

A grimmer Good Friday in Virginia 

If the abortion law that Gov. Ralph 

Northam approved wasn’t bad 

enough, the day he chose to sign it 

made it more disturbing yet. 

On Friday, April 10, Northam signed 

the Reproductive Health Protection 

Act, which allows nonphysicians to 

perform abortions and removes the 

requirement that women undergo 

an ultrasound 24 hours before an 

abortion. 

“That he would take this action on 

Good Friday, one of the most solemn 

days for Christians, is a particular 

affront to all who profess the gospel of 

life,” wrote Bishops Michael Burbidge 

of Arlington and Barry Knestout of 

Richmond in an April 11 statement. 

Though saddened, the bishops 

expressed their determination to continue 

fighting for life. 

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam 

“Though elected officials have 

stripped Virginia law of many 

long-standing provisions that protect 

unborn children and the health and 

safety of women,” they wrote, “the 

pursuit of a culture of life in our commonwealth 

will persevere.” 

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO/JAY PAUL, REUTERS 

Churches turn to loan 

programs to stay afloat 

Shelter-in-place orders that have left 

Catholic churches and schools empty 

and strapped for cash have compelled 

many to apply for a new $349 billion 

government loan program. 

The Small Business Administration’s 

(SBA) Paycheck Protection Program 

is part of the $2 trillion relief package 

that Congress passed last month. 

Since the SBA clarified April 4 that 

faith-based organizations are eligible, 

Catholic organizations have been 

scrambling to apply in order to stay 

afloat. 

According to an April 6 survey of 

diocesan CFOs, institutions in about 

15% of dioceses have applied to the 

program. Those that have not may 

be out of luck: As of April 16, the 

fund had been depleted, the SBA 

announced. 


LOCAL 

Local TV helps create 

‘domestic churches’ 

With churches closed and public 

Masses canceled during the coronavirus 

(COVID-19) pandemic, local 

TV stations KCOP (channel 13) and 

UniMas (channel 46) will continue to 

air Mass from the Cathedral of Our 

Lady of the Angels in English (10 

a.m.) and Spanish (7 a.m.) on Sunday 

mornings. 

“While our doors remain closed to 

ensure the safety and well-being of 

all in our communities, our Church 

continues to serve and stand with the 

faithful to share God’s message of 

hope and love,” said Archbishop José 

H. Gomez. “Even though we cannot 

publicly gather in communion to 

celebrate our faith, I encourage our 

faithful to continue to participate in 

the holy Mass via television, radio, 

and online so that we may continue to 

pray together for the Lord’s grace and 

mercy in our time of need.” 

“Our homes have become domestic 

churches,” said Maria Elena Burgos, 

who watched Easter Sunday Mass on 

KCOP with her husband and family. 

“We appreciate the services provided 

by all these channels and the people 

who have made it possible.” 

By partnering with local stations, 

the cathedral Mass is accessible to 

those who do not have internet or 

cable access. A full list of available 

livestreams and Mass broadcasts in the 

archdiocese is available at lacatholics. 

org/mass-for-the-homebound. 

CLOSE CONNECTION — Father 

Armando Lopez, OFM, administrator 

of Our Lady of Victory 

Church in East Los Angeles, 

celebrates Mass via livestream 

for parishioners April 18. 

Angelus to extend biweekly schedule 

In the face of financial challenges 

brought on by the coronavirus 

(COVID-19) pandemic, Angelus will 

extend its biweekly publishing schedule 

until the end of August. 

“Continuing the biweekly schedule 

through the end of the summer 

allows us to cut down on publishing 

costs and work toward making Angelus 

sustainable for years to come,” 

said Editor-in-Chief Pablo Kay. 

“Decisions like these aren’t easy, but 

they help ensure that Angelus keeps 

bringing inspiration, comfort, and 

vital information to Catholics who 

thirst for it, especially when they are 

going without the sacraments.” 

For a limited time only, readers can 

sign up for a 44-issue subscription 

to Angelus for themselves or a loved 

one for just $9.95 at AngelusNews. 

com. 

We will continue to publish new 

content daily on AngelusNews.com, 

and you can receive the latest news 

in your inbox by signing up for our 

Always Forward newsletter at newsletter.angelusnews.com. 

 

DAVID AMADOR RIVERA 

Walk for life, social distancing-style 

PREGNANCY HELP CENTER 

Supporters Mary and John Poprac at last 

year’s Walk for Life South Bay. 

The Pregnancy Help Center (PHC) 

in Torrance is holding its 33rd annual 

Walk for Life South Bay virtually 

this year, thanks to social-distancing 

restrictions in place to stop the spread 

of the coronavirus (COVID-19). 

“These are craa-zy times!” the 

center’s website reads. “Take the challenge: 

500 crazy steps for life!” 

It costs $500 to take care of one 

woman at the clinic, so PHC is asking 

participants to film themselves taking 

500 crazy steps — walking, dancing, 

jumping, or any combination 

— and submit a one- to two-minute 

video of their best moves by May 8. 

On May 16, the date of the original 

walk, PHC will share the videos and 

announce a prizewinner in a live 

Zoom event. 

For more information, visit supportphctorrance.org/. 

 


The global COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve rapidly and impact all aspects of our lives. 

During times of uncertainty and crisis, people come together to support one another. We are one 

family of faith. When one part of our family suffers, we join together to help alleviate the pain of 

another. 

At the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, our clergy and lay staffs’ primary concern is the health and 

safety of our community. We continue to pray for those who are sick, and for a fast-moving 

resolution of the current crisis. We look forward to the time when we can celebrate all the 

sacraments and Mass as a community. 

During this unprecedented time, the COVID-19 Relief Fund ensures that the more than 10,000 

people who work in support of faith needs can keep a roof over their heads and food on their 

tables. Our faith and lay ministers continue to serve those in need – those in our community most 

affected by the pandemic. 

Please join us, and together let us rise up and support our local community. As we keep one 

another in prayer, let us embrace this crisis as Jesus embraced his Passion – by loving one 

another and trusting that God is with us – we are not alone! 

Visit LACatholics.org/Emergency to donate 

COVID-19 

Relief Fund 

April 24-May 1, 1, 2020 •• ANGELUS • 7

What Legacy will YOU 

leave? 

It’s easy to include a gift 

for your favorite 

Parish, School or Ministry 

in your will or trust. 

SUNDAY 

READINGS 

BY SCOTT HAHN 

Acts 2:14, 22–28 / Ps. 16:1–2, 5, 7–11 / 1 Pt. 1:17–21 / Lk. 24:13–35 

To leave a lasting legacy, 

contact us today. 

Kimberly Jetton 

Director of Planned Giving 

(213) 637-7504 

KJetton@la-archdiocese.org 

www.ADLALegacy.org 

GIVE THE GIFT 

THAT BRINGS 

BETTER 

UNDERSTANDING 

OF THE CHURCH 

& THE WORLD 

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1.844.245.6630 or 

AngelusNews.com 

We should 

put ourselves 

in the shoes of 

the disciples in 

today’s Gospel. 

Downcast and 

confused, the 

two disciples, 

one of them 

named Cleopas, 

are making their 

way down the 

road, unable to 

understand all 

the things that 

have occurred. 

They know 

what they’ve seen: a prophet mighty in 

word and deed. They know what they 

were hoping for: that he would be 

the redeemer of Israel. But they don’t 

know what to make of his violent 

death at the hands of their rulers. 

They can’t even recognize Jesus as 

he draws near to walk with them. He 

seems like just another foreigner visiting 

Jerusalem for the Passover. 

Note that Jesus doesn’t disclose his 

identity until they describe how they 

found his tomb empty but “Him they 

did not see.” 

That’s how it is with us, too. Unless 

he revealed himself we would see only 

an empty tomb and a meaningless 

death. 

How does Jesus make himself known 

at Emmaus? First, he interprets “all 

the Scriptures” as referring to him. 

In today’s First Reading and Epistle, 

Peter also opens the Scriptures to proclaim 

the meaning of Christ’s death 

according to the Father’s “set plan,” 

“The Supper at Emmaus,” by Paolo Antonio Barbieri, 1603-1649, Italian. 

foreknown before the foundation of 

the world. 

Jesus is described as a new Moses 

and a new Passover lamb. He is the 

One of whom David sang in today’s 

Psalm, whose soul was not abandoned 

to corruption but was shown the path 

of life. 

After opening the Scriptures, Jesus 

at table took bread, blessed it, broke 

it, and gave it to the disciples, exactly 

what he did at the Last Supper (see 

Luke 22:14-20). 

In every Eucharist, we reenact that 

Easter Sunday at Emmaus. Jesus reveals 

himself to us in our journey. He 

speaks to our hearts in the Scriptures. 

Then at the table of the altar, in the 

person of the priest, he breaks the 

bread. 

The disciples begged him, “Stay with 

us.” So he does. Though he has vanished 

from our sight, in the Eucharist 

— as at Emmaus — we know him in 

the breaking of the bread. 

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS 

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

ANGELUS 


IN EXILE 

BY FATHER RONALD ROLHEISER, OMI 

Huge stones and locked doors 

Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard 

once wrote that the Gospel 

text he strongly identified with is the 

account of the disciples, after the 

death of Jesus, locking themselves 

into an upper room in fear and then 

experiencing Jesus coming through 

the locked doors to bestow peace on 

them. Kierkegaard wanted Jesus to do 

that for him, and breathe peace inside 

him. 

That image of locked doors is one 

of two particularly interesting images 

inside the story of the first Easter. The 

other is the image of the “large stone” 

that entombed the buried Jesus. 

These images remind us of what often 

separates us from the grace of the Resurrection. 

Sometimes for that grace to 

find us, someone must “roll away the 

stone” that entombs us and sometimes 

the resurrection must come to us 

“through locked doors.” 

First, about the “stone”: 

The Gospels tell us that early on 

Easter morning three women were on 

their way to the tomb of Jesus, intending 

to embalm his body with spices, 

but they were anxious about how they 

would remove the large stone that 

sealed the entrance of his tomb. 

Well, as we know, the stone had 

already been rolled away. How? 

We don’t know. Jesus’ resurrection 

happened with no one there. Nobody 

knows exactly how that stone was 

rolled away. But what Scripture does 

make clear is this: Jesus didn’t resurrect 

himself. God raised him. Jesus 

didn’t roll away the stone, though 

that’s what we generally assume. 

However, and for good reason, both 

Scripture and Christian tradition 

strongly affirm that Jesus didn’t raise 

himself from the dead, his Father 

raised him. This might seem like an 

unnecessary point to emphasize; after 

all, what difference does it make? 

It makes a huge difference. Jesus 

didn’t raise himself and neither can 

we. That’s the point. For the power of 

the Resurrection to enter us, something 

from beyond us has to remove 

the immovable rock of our resistance. 

This is not to deny that we, ourselves, 

have goodwill and personal strength; 

but these, though important, are more 

a precondition for receiving the grace 

of the Resurrection than the power of 

the Resurrection itself, which always 

comes to us from beyond. We never 

roll back the stone ourselves! 

Who can roll back the stone? 

Perhaps that isn’t a question we’re 

anxious about, but we should be. Jesus 

was helpless to raise himself up, all 

the more so for us. Like the women 

at that first Easter, we need to be anxious: 

“Who will roll back the stone?” 

We can’t open our own tombs. 

Second, our “locked doors”: 

It’s interesting how the believers 

at that first Easter experienced the 

resurrected Christ in their lives. The 

Gospels tell us that they were huddled 

in fear and paranoia behind locked 

doors, wanting only to protect themselves, 

when Christ came through 

their locked doors, the doors of their 

fear and self-protection, and breathed 

peace into them. 

Their huddling in fear wasn’t 

because of ill will or bad faith. In 

their hearts they sincerely wished that 

they weren’t afraid, but that goodwill 

still didn’t unlock their doors. Christ 

entered and breathed peace into them 

in spite of their resistance, their fear, 

and their locked doors. 

Things haven’t changed much in 

2,000 years. As a Christian community 

and as individuals, we are still 

mostly huddling in fear, anxious about 

ourselves, distrustful, not at peace, 

our doors locked, even as our hearts 

desire peace and trust. Perhaps, like 

Kierkegaard, we might want to privilege 

that Scripture passage where the 

resurrected Christ comes through the 

locked doors of human resistance and 

breathes out peace. 

Moreover, this year, given this 

extraordinary time when the coronavirus 

(COVID-19) has our cities and 

communities locked down and we are 

inside our individual houses, we are 

dealing with the various combinations 

of frustration, impatience, fear, panic, 

and boredom that assail us there. 

We need an extra something to experience 

the Resurrection, a stone needs 

to be rolled away so that Resurrected 

life can come through our locked 

doors and breathe peace into us. 

These two images, “the stone that 

needs to be rolled away” and the 

“locked doors of our fear,” contain 

within themselves perhaps the most 

consoling truth in all religion because 

they reveal this about God’s grace: 

When we cannot help ourselves we 

can still be helped, and when we are 

powerless to reach out, grace can still 

come through the walls of our resistance 

and breathe peace into us. 

The resurrected Christ can come 

through locked doors and roll back 

any stone that entombs us, no matter 

how hopeless the task is for us. 

Father Ron Rolheiser is a theologian, teacher, award-winning author, and president of the Oblate School of Theology 

in San Antonio, Texas. Find him online at www.ronrolheiser.com and www.facebook.com/ronrolheiser. 


No-touch tenderness 

For LA hospital chaplains, protective gear and video 

technology are part of the new normal in a time of pandemic 

BY R.W. DELLINGER / ANGELUS 

Father Chris Ponnet has been a chaplain 

at “County” for 25 years. 


When asked if ministering to 

patients with the coronavirus 

(COVID-19) at St. John’s 

Regional Medical Center in Ventura 

and St. John’s Hospital in Camarillo 

was different from other patients, 

chaplains Father Calin Tamiian and 

Veronica Marchese needed a moment 

to explain. 

“Yes and no at the same time,” Father 

Tamiian answered during a teleconference 

interview. The coronavirus, 

he explained, is just one of the types 

of contagious diseases that chaplains 

are trained to confront in their field of 

ministry. 

But for the 45-year-old Eastern Rite 

Catholic priest, one of the most important 

parts of chaplaincy is “the feeling 

touch of the ministry.” 

“That hand on the shoulder that you 

see in hospitals, that is not available 

now. We minimize exposure for the 

benefit of the patients as well as for the 

benefit of the staff. That’s what we’re 

doing every day — assessing the risks 

and assessing what we can do.” 

Father Tamiian, who has been a 

chaplain for almost 20 years (18 of 

them at the St. John’s Hospitals in 

Ventura County), has seen how every 

hospitalization takes individuals out of 

the regular environment and into an 

enclosed community of strangers. 

But what’s especially alarming for 

coronavirus patients is that they are 

also immediately put into isolation. To 

make matters more ominous, the way 

the men and women who attend to 

them are outfitted — wearing hooded 

protective gowns, goggles, masks, 

gloves, and a clear plastic shield protecting 

their faces — often resembles 

something out of a “Star Wars” movie. 

Father Tamiian’s experience is similar 

to that of several chaplains ministering 

to coronavirus patients from around 

the Archdiocese of Los Angeles that 

Angelus spoke to: trying to find innovative 

ways of bringing Christ’s presence 

to patients who are deprived of physical 

contact with others, while ministering 

to the spiritual needs of loved ones 

often in agony. 


STEPHANIE RAMOS 

Chaplains at Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center pray outside the hospital April 15. Sometimes, staff inside come to the windows to join them. 

about you, Veronica?” 

the chaplain asked his 

“How 

colleague. 

“There’s a lot of stress on families 

right now,” Marchese replied. “At 

this point, we’re being very careful, 

utilizing the phone to support them 

instead of having face-to-face conversations 

because they can’t come into the 

hospital, where before, families would 

be able to be here all day long at the 

bedside of their loved one.” 

The fear of their loved ones feeling 

abandoned, Marchese said, has led to 

families and medical workers to look 

for ways to “create those bridges to 

facilitate communication between the 

family and the nurses.” 

Families who are more familiar with 

mobile technology like smartphones 

and iPads are using them to communicate 

with patients. But, Marchese 

admitted, “it’s hard for those who don’t 

have that capability.” 

The priest said his coworker had 

brought up a crucial issue when 

ministering to severe coronavirus cases. 

“There’s also the reality of grief, and 

that’s another reason why we are here 

as Catholic chaplains,” he pointed out. 

“To address the feeling of loss. COV- 

ID-19 has complicated the grief. So we 

see more and more complex grieving 

situations, when family members can’t 

see their loved one as a patient.” 

While there are still 13 chaplains on 

staff covering the two hospitals, the 70- 

some volunteers who normally worked 

with them can no longer go inside 

the facilities, including the extraordinary 

ministers of holy Communion 

who bring Communion to patients 

on different wards. So staff chaplains 

are pulling long hours ministering to 

incoming coronavirus cases as well as 

regular patients. 

“Just being in the hospital affects 

people’s deeper reliance on what their 

values are and what their understanding 

of God and what their relationship 

with God is,” noted Marchese. “So I 

think anytime that someone comes to 

the hospital, they’re in a vulnerable 

place. They’re open to really evaluating 

their lives. People have that deeper 

understanding of what life is all about. 

“So it’s one of our opportunities 

for evangelization, because people 

connect to what their limits are as a 

human being — and what is beyond 

that.” 

Father Chris Ponnet has been 

a chaplain at Los Angeles 

County+USC Medical Center, 

commonly known as “County” among 

locals, for 25 years. The hospital near 

East LA has seen coronavirus patients 

“from the beginning” of the virus’ 

arrival to Southern California roughly 

two months ago. But in the last month, 

he has seen the number of patients at 

the hospital, which serves some of LA’s 

poorest, actually decrease. 

As of mid-April, the hospital was 

still in “triage mode” in preparation 

for a surge of coronavirus patients. 

“Administrators have been sending 

regular patients not infected to other 

hospitals like the boat in the harbor,” 

he explained. 


Chaplains carry signs as they walk from one side of “County” hospital to the other to pray for 

patients and staff. 

STEPHANIE RAMOS 

spending more time with staff trying to 

be an instrument of calming as well as 

with patients and families. 

“You know, as long as people use 

universal precautions, there’s hardly 

any way that this can be passed along. 

You put up enough barriers and it can’t 

be passed just by osmosis.” 

In the case that a “surge” or “second 

wave” does arrive, Father Ponnet and 

the hospital’s other chaplains will be 

ready: They’ve divided into three separate 

groups, so that if a member of one 

group gets infected, and that team has 

to be isolated, the other two can step 

into the breach. 

Amid all the uncertainty, Father Ponnet 

said the pandemic crisis has served 

to raise “the big spiritual questions” of 

life and death not only among patients, 

but staff as well. 

“People are asking both the personal 

question of their own health and the 

arbitrariness of one person versus 

another member of their family being 

infected,” said the veteran chaplain. 

“But they’re asking more often, ‘Why is 

God allowing this to happen? Is there 

something global, and God is punishing 

the world?’ ” 

The consequences are not necessarily 

always tragic. “I find with the medical 

staff, there’s a sense of when you’re 

in this kind of high triage mode — or 

some people would call it a war mode 

— it does bring people together. And I 

find people asking for prayer, individually 

or as a group.” 

Still, priests and hospital staff have 

found ways to provide anointing and 

confessions as needed to patients, 

Father Ponnet said. 

“With anointings, we would normally 

just go right into a room. I did a couple 

with COVID-19 cases early on. But 

then as we’ve moved along, we’re more 

and more doing that virtually. So we 

stand outside the room: pray with the 

person over the phone, and we’re hoping 

soon to move that to iPads so that 

the visualization will be better.” 

But if the person is dying, the “last 

rites” and the anointing of the sick are 

still administered while taking precautions. 

Father Ponnet and the other 

chaplains wear a gown, gloves, masks 

and goggles, with a clear plastic shield 

around their faces to administer an 

anointing of the sick. Then they pour 

some of the consecrated oil on a tissue 

and anoint the person’s forehead (the 

tissue is destroyed soon after). Ordinarily, 

chaplains would pour a little oil on 

a finger and then anoint the person. 

The most serious, and often deadly, 

bodily effect of the coronavirus is the 

difficulty of breathing it causes for 

patients. But Father Ponnet, who also 

serves as pastor of nearby St. Camillus 

Church, has seen up close how it can 

also affect the soul, including in a 

positive way. 

“Clearly, I would say anxiety is a huge 

human experience right now. And that 

affects people spiritually,” the 62-yearold 

priest said. “So a whole lot of what 

chaplains do across the country right 

now with COVID-19 cases is we’re just 

Father Timothy Bushy was only 

on the job as regional spiritual 

health officer for Southern 

California at Providence St. Joseph 

Health system for three weeks when 

the coronavirus took on the form of a 

full-blown pandemic here. 

“Talk about baptism by fire,” quipped 

the priest, originally from the Diocese 

of Crookston, Minnesota. 

After working in health care the last 

13 years, his new job is to provide 

leadership and strategic direction for 

all acute-care ministries in the system’s 

local hospitals. 

He finds it providential that the 

network managed last year to launch 

“Providence TeleHealth” before the 

coronavirus appeared in China and 

began its spread across the globe. 


“We are providing spiritual care via 

technology,” Father Bushy told Angelus 

when asked to explain the initiative. 

“It can be cellphones, iPads directly to 

the patient. However, with COVID-19, 

patients are oftentimes on ventilators 

and can’t speak. We make connections 

with their families.” 

Then he offered an example. 

About a week ago, a Catholic patient 

suffering with the coronavirus was on 

a ventilator at one of Providence St. 

Joseph Health’s local hospitals, so he 

could not communicate verbally. 

Although the chaplain explained 

that Pope Francis had authorized 

the granting of a plenary indulgence 

under certain conditions to Catholics 

who are victims of the coronavirus, 

the family wanted their loved one to 

see a priest. A nurse with a cellphone 

connected two family members and 

a priest outside of the ICU with the 

patient through FaceTime. The cleric 

then prayed the Commendation of the 

Dying. 

When asked whether the family was 

satisfied, Father Bushy answered, “I’ll 

tell you. They were just ecstatic to see 

the patient, their loved one. But also to 

pray. And the priest did an exemplary 

job explaining what this was about, 

how it had been approved by the 

USCCB [United States Conference of 

Catholic Bishops] and the Archdiocese 

of Los Angeles. 

“It was sort of catechetical because a 

lot of people haven’t heard about this,” 

said Father Bushy. “So it’s catechetical 

and also healing. And the family 

expressed their sincere gratitude to the 

priest who provided that spiritual care 

for them and their loved one.” 

At the daily noon Mass streamed to 

hospital rooms, the prayer of spiritual 

communion was also being recited at 

St. John’s Hospitals for patients wishing 

to receive the Eucharist. 

“The Sisters of Providence and the 

Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange have 

always told us to respond to the sign of 

the times,” reminded the priest. “And 

using this technology is a perfect example 

of the way in which our chaplains 

are responding to the signs of the time 

as expressions of the love of God.” 

R.W. Dellinger is the features editor of 

Angelus. 

Ready for the surge 

Just weeks after closing due to bankruptcy, LA’s oldest hospital opened 

its doors again as the Los Angeles Surge Hospital (LASH) on April 

13. 

A partnership between the state, LA County, and Dignity Health and 

Kaiser Permanente, the hospital at the site of the former St. Vincent’s 

Medical Center is for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients only. It has no 

emergency room and will not accept walk-ins. 

The hospital is opening in phases, adding physicians and staff, and 

securing supplies and equipment in order to accept more patients, with 

a projected capacity of 266 beds. Doctors will coordinate with the Los 

Angeles County Medical Alert Center to arrange for a safe transfer of 

COVID-19 patients at hospitals that have reached their surge capacity. 

LASH staff has 

received electronic 

health records, 

equipment, and 

procedural training 

to ensure safety for 

their patients and 

for themselves, as 

concerns about 

medical workers 

contracting the 

virus continue to 

rise. “Everybody 

knows that health 

care workers are being 

pushed to their 

limits,” said acting 

CEO and president 

of Dignity Health’s Southwest Division Julie Sprengel. 

Meanwhile, local billionaire and Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick 

Soon-Shiong has purchased the center for $135 million in a deal 

announced April 16. In March, the state of California agreed to pay $16 

million for a six-month lease of the hospital. That agreement has now 

been transferred to Soon-Shiong, the Los Angeles Times reported. 

COURTESY DIGNITY HEALTH COURTESY DIGNITY HEALTH 


INTERSECTIONS 

BY GREG ERLANDSON 

The secret of St. Margaret’s 

Mary Agnes Erlandson is the director of Catholic Charities’ St. Margaret’s Center in Lennox. 

PABLO KAY 

An old classmate of mine recently 

wrote me a letter and referred to 

my sister, Mary Agnes Erlandson, 

as a living saint. 

As her older brother, I of course 

laughed. Mary Agnes is strong-willed, 

passionate, idealistic, relentless. She’s 

also funny, smart, and charming, so 

long as you agree with her, my siblings 

might add. Saintly isn’t the first word 

that comes to mind, but lately I’m 

willing to reconsider. 

Mary Agnes is the director of St. 

Margaret’s Center, a thriving Catholic 

Charities outpost located in Lennox 

off the 405 freeway, not far from LAX. 

One could argue that all that passion, 

stubbornness, and idealism are the 

perfect traits for someone dedicated to 

serving the poorest and most defenseless 

among us. It doesn’t hurt that she 

seems to have a bottomless love for 

those she serves as well. 

A native Angeleno and graduate of 

Loyola Marymount University, Mary 

Agnes had spent time in Ecuador, 

where she saw St. Pope John Paul II 

during his historic visit there in 1985. 

Upon her return, she applied for a 

job as a bilingual secretary at Catholic 

Charities. St. Margaret’s Center 

opened 1 1/2 years later, and she was 

appointed its first and only director. 

For more than 30 years, she has 

expanded the services of the center, 

arranging everything from showers for 

the homeless to medical services, ESL 

classes, a food pantry, and programs 

for diaper distribution, utility relief, 

and more. She counts on an army of 

volunteers ranging from dedicated 

seniors to college students as well as 

her small staff. 

She’s seen a lot in three decades: 

the booms and the busts; the dot-com 

bubble and the Great Recession; the 

skyrocketing housing prices and the 

relentless war on the undocumented. 

14 • ANGELUS • April 24-May 1, 2020

But nothing compares with what is 

happening now. She’s never managed 

through a pandemic. 

“I’m so shell-shocked,” she said. 

“We are getting so many new people 

for our services,” she told me after a 

long day in a long week in a longer 

month. “Some people are waiting for 

unemployment checks or stimulus 

checks,” and they come to St. Margaret’s 

Center to fill the gap. Some are 

the newly homeless. Some are the 

undocumented. 

In this crisis atmosphere, she is losing 

many of her most reliable volunteers. 

They are older and many are not able 

to risk working in such an exposed 

atmosphere. The students are all gone, 

too. Even some of her staff have pre-existing 

conditions that put them at risk. 

Her pantry now only offers food one 

day a week instead of three, but she’s 

serving more families than she used to 

serve in a week. 

It’s a loaves-and-fishes story. Somehow, 

the food still comes in. And 

somehow, each week she still gets 

volunteers. The families they serve 

register for slots and usually come in 

cars to limit exposure. Out in the driveway, 

Mary Agnes processes each family 

herself. She stands out there for seven 

hours, talking to the families in English 

or Spanish, directing them where 

to go, keeping them spaced apart. 

The volunteers give each family about 

40 pounds of food. Beans and rice, 

canned goods. Also fresh: one meat, 

one dairy, fruits, and veggies. Bread is 

hard to come by, she said, and donations 

are tougher now. Yet Mary Agnes 

and her team are still able to serve 200 

families in one day. 

She has a mask, but it’s hard to 

breathe. She has gloves, but doesn’t 

like them. By the time you read this, 

the center will likely be out of hand 

sanitizer, and Mary Agnes spends valuable 

time trying to track down masks 

and gloves for her staff. Yet she knows 

that one positive case for the coronavirus 

(COVID-19) and the center might 

be shut. 

The rest of the week St. Margaret’s 

Center offers services for the homeless: 

case management, housing referrals, 

showers, and sack lunches. The center 

also helps the undocumented negotiate 

the byzantine immigration system. 

For Mary Agnes, she just wants people 

to know that Catholic Charities is still 

open, still helping. Its centers need 

support: volunteers, supplies, and money. 

She’s tired, and at times there is a 

hint of vulnerability in her voice. She 

worries that a financial wall is getting 

closer. Yet her larger concern is for the 

people who are left out of the system, 

who don’t know how to get assistance, 

or who can’t. “All the people who can’t 

get mainstream aid, I worry for them,” 

she said. 

She’s my sister, so obviously I’m 

proud of her. But my sister is one of 

thousands of saints-in-the-making who 

are determined not to give up during 

this terrible time. 

I wish our Church was able to tell its 

story better: All the thousands of aid 

organizations, hospitals, and clinics, 

all the schools caring for their children 

sheltering in place, all the chaplains, 

the first responders, all the priests, 

brothers, and women religious, and especially 

all the laypeople like my sister 

and her staff who give of themselves 

day in and day out. 

We may take what they do for granted, 

but those they serve most assuredly 

do not. And when I look at my sister, 

with her big smile and big heart, I 

think, this is our Church. And I’m so 

damn proud. 

Greg Erlandson is the president and 

editor-in-chief of Catholic News Service. 

Since the California stay-at-home order began in March, the St. Margaret’s parking lot has been open on Wednesdays for food pickups by appointment. 

PABLO KAY 


Drive-in charity off the runway 

For a community 

devastated by the 

slowdown in air traffic, 

St. Margaret’s is a 

haven of hope 

BY PABLO KAY / ANGELUS 

A Catholic Charities worker and 

a volunteer carry boxes of food 

to people’s cars in the driveway 

of St. Margaret’s Center. 

PABLO KAY 

Unlike the nearly dead airport a couple of miles away, 

St. Margaret’s Center in Lennox is alive with activity 

on Wednesdays in the time of the coronavirus (COV- 

ID-19). 

Inside, teenage volunteers and staff are busy filling cardboard 

Chiquita banana boxes to the top with donated 

Wonder Bread, fresh fruit, and frozen vegetables. Outside, 

workers are loading those boxes into family cars, while other 

volunteers are unloading new donations that will help fill 

more boxes. 

All the while, homeless visitors are stopping by to consult 

with Catholic Charities caseworkers under a white pop-up 

tent. 

At the center of all the bustle is Mary Agnes Erlandson, the 

center’s director for the last 30-plus years. Donning a facemask 

and a cowboy hat to protect from the early afternoon 

sun, she takes down information from drive-in visitors while 

giving directions to what’s left of the center’s decimated staff 

and a team of volunteers. 

“I haven’t done direct service for years,” admitted Erlandson, 

62, whose administrative duties normally keep her busy 

with office work. “I’m down here because most of my staff 

has either health issues or age issues that don’t let them do 

this.” 

“So it takes a physical toll on me,” but, she added with a 

grin, “it’s also really exciting.” 

Some of the people she sees now are regulars who’ve been 

coming to this refuge under Los Angeles International Airport’s 

noisy southern flight path for decades, whether to help 

or be helped. 

But since the coronavirus pandemic began to make its 

presence felt in Los Angeles County in mid-March, she said 

roughly half of the center’s visitors are new faces — many 

have been severely hurt by economic consequences of the 

near halting of domestic and international air travel. 

“Almost everyone I talk to has lost their job or someone in 

their household has, so they just have a drastic reduction of 

income,” said Erlandson, a longtime parishioner of Visitation 

Church in neighboring Westchester. 

To qualify for help from St. Margaret’s, applicants must live 

in the greater LAX area. A large percentage of its visitors are 

Latinos who won’t be benefiting directly from relief measures 

enacted by the federal government. 

“We don’t ask people their immigration status, but we know 


there’s some undocumented who may not qualify for some 

benefits like the stimulus check,” said Erlandson. 

Among those feeling the pinch are Miguel and Magdalena 

Vera, recent immigrants from Jalisco, Mexico, now living 

in Inglewood. Until a few weeks ago, the couple and their 

daughter worked in the same LAX-area hotel. As soon as 

air travel slowed amid the pandemic shutdown, they found 

themselves furloughed. 

“With what we made before, we had enough to pay our 

rent, and we lived well,” said Miguel. 

After a month without work, the family’s savings dried up 

and with practically no money left to buy groceries, the 

Veras made a Wednesday appointment to pick up one of 

the 40-pound boxes of food being packed at St. Margaret’s, 

which contain a mix of perishable and nonperishable items. 

“This is awesome,” said Miguel, motioning from the driver’s 

seat of his Chevy Suburban to the hive of activity in St. 

Margaret’s parking lot. “Everything they give us is excellent, 

and we make good use of it. We’ll take any help we can get 

right now.” 

Erlandson said that about 9 out of 10 families who pick up 

food boxes (by appointment only, to avoid crowding) come 

in their cars, the others wait patiently in line (at a social 

distance) on the sidewalk along the narrow stretch of Inglewood 

Boulevard to be helped. In total, at least 200 families 

are served in one Wednesday. 

Another St. Margaret’s newcomer is “Gee.” A proud 

grandfather of 12, Gee, 62, has been living in his car since 

November, when his landlord raised his rent from $900 to 

$1,700. 

Although homeless, until the shutdown in air travel he was 

still working a $21-an-hour job handling baggage at the Tom 

Bradley International Terminal. 

“Things were already tough between November and now, 

but at least I had a job,” Gee said. “Now I got no house, no 

job.” 

Gee has been spending nights in his car at a LAX parking 

lot, hoping that the days of airport traffic — and steady employment— 

come back soon. 

Asked how he felt about coming to St. Margaret’s, the 

native of Guatemala couldn’t hold back his emotion. 

“That I’m at home,” he replied between sobs. 

Although he’s not Catholic, Frank Rogers Jr. is convinced 

that divine providence brought him to St. Margaret’s. 

After being homeless in San Francisco for 10 years, a government 

assistance program placed him in a home in South 

Central LA, then in a government-subsidized apartment 

building in Inglewood. 

His upstairs neighbor told him about St. Margaret’s. The 

neighbor has moved away, but the friendly help he’s received 

is enough for him to “stay with the program.” 

“I’m very grateful; you know God has a way of connecting 

you with the right people if you’re into him,” remarked 

Rogers. 

Over the years, regulars like Rogers have benefited from 

about 25 different programs at St. Margaret’s, ranging from 

health insurance enrollment, emergency rent and utility 

help, English-language courses, and help with immigration 

and U.S. citizenship applications. 

However, in the wake of the pandemic, the programs 

St. Margaret’s is able to offer have been reduced to just a 

dozen, and food pickups have been cut from three days a 

week to just one. The center continues to offer showers for 

the homeless on Mondays, hygiene kits on Fridays, and has 

three caseworkers available to help homeless persons find 

temporary shelters. 

Even in a time of widespread suffering, Rogers said he’s 

moved that there are people and programs like Catholic 

Charities dedicated to helping those who can’t always help 

themselves. 

“It means that the world is still alive, that people still care,” 

the 72-year-old New York native said. “It isn’t over till it’s 

over. You can’t never give up, you know, you have to realize 

that we aren’t here by ourselves. Everybody’s connected.” 

To donate to Catholic Charities in this time of need, visit 

CatholicCharitiesLA.org/donate, where you can select the 

location you would like to help. For more information about 

St. Margaret’s Center, call 310-672-2208 or send an email to 

maerlandson@ccharities.org. 

Pablo Kay is the editor-in-chief of Angelus. 

Frank Rogers Jr. in front of one of the murals at St. Margaret’s Center. 

PABLO KAY 


A free 

man’s future 

Whatever happens, we 

haven’t seen the last of 

Cardinal George Pell 

BY JOHN L. ALLEN JR. / ANGELUS 

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE/PAUL HARING 

Cardinal George Pell leaves a session of the Synod of Bishops on the Family at the Vatican in 2015. 


ROME — Now that Cardinal George Pell is a free 

man after more than 400 days in prison on charges of 

“historical sexual offenses,” which he denied vigorously 

from the beginning and for which he was eventually 

acquitted by Australia’s High Court, the question arises of 

what’s next for the 78-year-old prelate. 

Immediately, Cardinal Pell’s legal odyssey may not be over. 

Vivian Waller, who served as legal counsel for the alleged 

victim in the Cardinal Pell case, has said she has at least 

eight other civil claims ready to go against Cardinal Pell, 

claiming he either engaged in sexual abuse or covered up 

abuse committed by others. 

There are also reports that police in Australia’s state of Victoria 

are investigating a separate charge of abuse that dates 

back to the 1970s, when Cardinal Pell was a priest in his 

hometown of Ballarat. It’s possible the investigation could 

lead to a new indictment. 

Assuming some of those claims go forward, Cardinal Pell 

no doubt will defend himself vigorously. While some have 

raised the possibility that he could return to Rome on his 

Vatican passport and invoke sovereign immunity, that’s 

never been his style. 

In the meantime, Cardinal Pell is a free man. It’s probably 

not in the cards that he’ll go back to a senior position in the 



Vatican. When his term as secretary of the Secretariat for 

the Economy expired in February 2019, a Vatican spokesman 

confirmed he no longer held the role, and, given his 

age, he likely won’t be tapped for another. 

In all likelihood, whatever informal role Cardinal Pell 

plays from here on will be something he carves out for himself. 

In an April 14 interview with Sky News Australia, he 

said that for now he wants a quiet life of growing roses and 

cabbage, but given his dynamic personality, he’ll undoubtedly 

end up doing more than puttering in the garden. 

Some hints can be gleaned from statements since his 

release. In a piece for The Australian published on Good 

Friday, he linked his own experiences to the coronavirus 

(COVID-19) as part of a meditation on suffering. 

“I have just spent 13 months in jail for a crime I didn’t 

commit, one disappointment after another,” he wrote. 

“I knew God was with me, but I didn’t know what he was 

up to, although I realized he has left all of us free,” Cardinal 

Pell wrote. “But with every blow it was a consolation to 

know I could offer it to God for some good purpose, like 

turning the mass of suffering into spiritual energy.” 

He struck a similar note in a brief video message for Easter 

that Cardinal Pell sent to his friends in Italy, among other 

things saying he was thinking of all those who have died 

amid the pandemic, especially “many priests.” 

As of Easter Sunday, at least 100 priests had died in Italy 

due to the coronavirus. 

“For those of us who go on living, let us draw new strength 

and comfort from the risen Lord,” Cardinal Pell said. “How 

close he is to all those who suffer, to those sick and in pain, 

to those falsely accused, and particularly to those who are 

alone. Lean on him. Draw close to him. For the Lord, there 

is no such thing as social distancing. He is looking for you.” 

Such language suggests Cardinal Pell could have a good 

deal to say about the theology and spirituality of suffering. 

Toward the end of his life, the late Vietnamese Cardinal 

Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan published a book titled 

“The Road of Hope: A Gospel from Prison,” based on his 

13 years in a Communist jail in his native country, nine 

of them in solitary confinement. It’s considered one of the 

finest pieces of spiritual writing by a Catholic prelate in recent 

memory, and it’s possible Cardinal Pell might consider 

writing something similar. 

Cardinal Pell has already released portions of a diary he 

kept while in prison, which, among other things, reveal a 

remarkable sangfroid about his situation: “I had a shower, 

a toilet, and a bed with a firm base. What else does a man 

need?” He could choose to expand on these scattered notes, 

turning them into a memoir. 

Cardinal Pell also could become a roving ambassador 

for prison ministry. It’s a cause close to the heart of Pope 

Francis, who’s used his daily livestreamed Masses during 

the coronavirus lockdown on several occasions to recall the 

special isolation of inmates during this period and also to 

call for reform on issues such as prison overcrowding. 

In that interview with Sky News Australia, Cardinal Pell 

said his time in prison had given him an interest in people 

who are “wrongly condemned.” He talked about becoming 

friends with a man convicted of murder, but whom Cardinal 

Pell believes to be innocent. 

It’s difficult to imagine anyone at the senior levels of the 

Catholic Church today who’d have a better existential 

grasp of the emotional and spiritual dynamics facing people 

behind bars than Cardinal Pell, based on such experiences. 

It’s also possible Cardinal Pell could choose to play a role 

in the Church’s ongoing efforts at reform over the clerical 

sexual abuse scandals, since few people can understand 

the visceral anger such abuse elicits like a man who, for all 

intents and purposes, became the poster boy for everything 

many Australians considered to be wrong. 

Cardinal Pell’s always been proud of his early efforts as the 

archbishop of Melbourne to deal with the abuse scandals, 

and mentioned it again in the Sky News interview with 

longtime defender Andrew Bolt: “I think it’s a bit ironic 

that I’m the figurehead, the scapegoat that has copped most 

of this because what I did very early in 1996 is set up the 

Melbourne response,” he said. 

Becoming an advocate on child abuse reform might be 

delicate, since many survivors still have a negative view 

of Cardinal Pell, but the possibility of blowback has never 

stopped him from speaking out before when he believes 

something important is at stake. 

More broadly, he could return to being a commentator 

on public affairs. For years he wrote a popular column 

for Sydney’s The Sunday Telegraph, and he’s an agile TV 

personality. He’s not afraid to take controversial positions 

on sensitive issues, which makes him media gold, and he’s 

convinced the voice of faith has a right to be heard even in 

the heart of secular culture. 

Whatever happens, Cardinal Pell won’t go quietly into that 

good night. He’s been a battler from his youth as a scrappy 

ruckman and potential pro in Australian Rules Football, 

and it’s not in his nature to give up. 

It’s a safe bet, therefore, that we haven’t 

seen the last of Cardinal Pell, 

one of the most remarkable 

and fascinating personalities 

the Catholic Church has 

ever produced, and given 

the long, rollicking history 

we’re talking about, 

that’s saying something 

indeed. 

Cardinal George Pell a few days after 

his conviction was overturned on April 7. 

John L. Allen Jr. 

is the editor of Crux. 

COURTESY ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY VIA CNS 


POEMS for PLAGUE 

Why it might be 

worthwhile to commit a 

few poems to memory 

during quarantine 

BY MIKE AQUILINA / ANGELUS 

SHUTTERSTOCK 

Weeks into quarantine, you may have arrived at the 

conclusion that it’s not enough to occupy the 

mind. 

Solitaire and sudoku only take you so far. Your mind 

doesn’t want to be occupied. It wants to be fed. 

Feed it poems. 

The U.S. poet Theodore Roethke told his students: “There 

will be times in your life when you will be trapped … you’ll 

be in the line at the supermarket, you’ll be sitting in the 

dentist’s office, and if you’ve got those poems in your head 

… they will help you through the dry times in your life.” 

Now is an optimal time to put those poems in our heads 

for future use. Because, yes, this is a dry time for all, but 

drier times will come for each. 

The scholar Anne Barton, in her later years, suffered the 

loss of her eyesight, and then was confined to bed. She 

entertained herself and her visitors with sonnets she had 

committed to memory. She was always fascinated. She was 

always fascinating. She was never bored. Be like her. 

Whatever time of quarantine remains can be a great opportunity 

to acquaint or reacquaint ourselves with great poems. 

It’s a pastime. It’s a gathering. But it’s more than that. It 

can help us process what’s happening. 

Literary scholar Dwight Lindley told Angelus: “The 

present pandemic seems like an occasion for many folks to 

linger over the truths they have been given. I mean, to take 

what they know and care about — the relationships, the 

beauties, the creation, and ultimately the loving Creator at 

the heart of all of it — and peer down into those depths. 

“Poems help us do this,” he added. “They are about lingering 

over truths, little and big, 

and trying to unlock their 

secrets, savor their mysteries. 

Poems can give us a new angle 

into old things: marriage, 

childhood, courage, fear, 

innocence, hope, and so on.” 

There are, of course, topical 

poems, like Thomas Nashe’s 

“In Time of Plague,” which 

is sobering, though not exactly 

Dwight Lindley uplifting. 

HILLSDALE COLLEGE 



Paul Laurence Dunbar 

There are old poems 

that take on new and unintended 

meanings, like 

Paul Laurence Dunbar’s 

“We Wear the Mask.” 

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries 

To thee from tortured souls arise. 

We sing, but oh the clay is vile 

Beneath our feet, and long the mile; 

But let the world dream otherwise, 

We wear the mask! 

IMAGE VIA FACEBOOK 

Jane Greer 

Similarly, the poet Jane 

Greer, also a Catholic, 

offered this poem, “Saved,” 

ostensibly about a deadly 

fever: 

It was not until I felt the fever passing 

that I realized how ill I’d really been. 

I think it must have kindled me in secret 

for a long time, like a merely venial sin, 

but it lifted in a moment — left me startled, 

with some subtle feelings, oddly bittersweet: 

a sense of loss with no remembered having, 

of cooling where I hadn’t noticed heat. 

ANGELAALAIMOODONNELL.COM 

Angela Alaimo O’Donnell 

The contemporary Catholic 

poet Angela Alaimo 

O’Donnell found herself 

afflicted with the virus, and 

isolated even from her family 

members. She took the 

time not only to read great 

poems from the past, but 

also write new ones. She titled 

the new batch “Love in 

the Time of Coronavirus,” 

and this is “Quarantine 

Day #7”: 

What’s here is here is here until it’s not. 

Your childhood home. The roses he brought. 

Nothing is permanent as we think it is. 

Nothing survives the last analysis. 

All is contingent. Everything depends. 

Everything begins & everything ends. 

Clichés are just clichés until they come true. 

Most tentative of all, me & you. 

Nothing is permanent as we think it is. 

What’s mine isn’t mine. What’s his isn’t his. 

All is contingent. All of it depends. 

You lose your lovers. You lose your friends. 

The ripe piece of fruit will one day rot. 

We’re here and here and here until we’re not. 

Short poems and rhymed poems are relatively easy to 

commit to memory. It can be entertaining and illuminating 

— and even therapeutic — to read the same poem 

three times a day, with the readings separated by hours. A 

particular poem becomes a different work of art, depending 

on the immediate context of our reading, just as a painting 

changes in different light. Over days it becomes many 

things and insinuates itself into our thinking in unexpected 

ways. 

This is true not only for adults, but even for children. 

Poet Tony Mitton made a list (with YouTube videos) of 10 

poems “to remember and recite.” And he selected each for 

its appeal to hearts, minds, and ears of young and old. 

The novelist Salman Rushdie suggested that learning 

poems “by heart” is a “life-enhancing” thing for children. 

If you’ve been away from the art for a few years, you might 

want to ease back into it with a look at the 10 most-requested 

poems from the BBC’s program “Poetry Please.” It 

includes works by Robert Frost, Christina Rossetti, Dylan 

Thomas, and others you might recall from school days. 

Or you can dip into the work of recent Catholic poets, as 

featured in the online version of this article, found in the 

“Arts & Culture” section of AngelusNews.com. 

If we come out of quarantine with poems in mind, we’ll 

have invested our time well. We’ll have established an 

account we can draw from through the rest of our lives, in 

times of boredom and need. 

Says Dwight Lindley: “Art — poetry — gives us a lens 

through which to see things anew, to see them more deeply, 

and thus learn to live with them better.” 

Mike Aquilina is a contributing editor to Angelus and author 

of many books, including the poetry collection “Terms 

and Conditions” (Serif Press, 2014). 


“The Incredulity of St. Thomas, 

from Scenes from the Life of 

Christ,” by Byzantine School, 6th 

century, Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, 

Ravenna, Italy. 


Pulverizing sins 

How to make your contrition perfect, whether 

or not the sacrament of confession is available 

BY FATHER BERNARD MULCAHY, OP, PH.D. / ANGELUS 

On that first Easter day, Christ appeared to the 

disciples in his risen body, and gave them the 

power to forgive sins: “He breathed on them and 

said, ‘Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose 

sins you retain are retained’ ” (see John 20:19–23). In this 

moment he instituted the sacrament of penance. 

Penance (confession or reconciliation) is the sacrament 

by which we are forgiven any sins we have committed after 

baptism, especially our grave sins, that is, our mortal sins, 

which are called mortal because they bring about a kind 

of spiritual death. The forgiveness of grave sins ordinarily 

requires the sacrament of penance. 

But what if we cannot get to confession? When sacramental 

penance is unavailable — as it is to many Catholics in 


this time of pandemic — it is important 

to remember that perfect (that 

is, complete) contrition “obtains the 

forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes 

the firm resolution to have recourse 

to sacramental confession as soon as 

possible” (Catechism of the Catholic 

Church, 1452). 

So what is contrition, and when is it 

“perfect”? Contrition is a voluntary 

sorrow and detestation for sins committed, 

together with the firm purpose 

of confessing and making satisfaction 

for them, and of avoiding all sin in the 

future. 

Contrition is called perfect or 

complete when it is true and interior, 

supernatural, supreme, and universal. 

Each part of this definition is important, 

and merits closer attention. 

First, it helps to know that “contrition” 

comes from the Latin verb 

meaning “to grind into small pieces.” 

In the Christian life, we talk 

about contrition as a kind of spiritual 

pulverizing, a breaking of our hard, 

stony hearts by sorrow when we have 

lost the grace of God and our own 

innocence. We should emphasize that 

we cannot produce contrition by our 

natural human efforts: It arises from 

supernatural charity, and is a gift from 

God. 

Contrition is voluntary, meaning it is 

something deliberate that involves a 

movement of our will. Contrition is not 

primarily a feeling or emotion; instead 

it is primarily an active turning (conversion) 

of our will away from sin and 

toward God. 

Here the first mover of our will is God, 

whose grace moves us to reject sin and to 

choose the way of holiness and love instead, 

putting our faith in Jesus and the saving power 

of his sacrifice. Perfect or complete contrition 

is more than a word on our lips: It is an interior 

reality, born of faith and love, a real heartbreak 

and a determination to leave sin behind and to 

cling to God. 

Contrition is a sorrow and detestation for sins 

committed. That is, contrition is more than a 

decision to stop sinning, or to make a new start: 

It is a real hatred for our own past wrongdoing. 

If we have perfect contrition, we will wish we 

had never done the evil we did. Contrition 

includes, moreover, the firm determination to 

confess our sins, to make satisfaction for them (that is, 

to do penance and make restitution), and to avoid all 

sin in the future. 

Perfect or complete contrition is also 

supernatural, supreme, and universal. 

In this context “supernatural” means 

our contrition comes from the grace 

of God: We are sorry because we love 

God, and not only because we are 

afraid of going to hell, or dismayed 

by the inherent ugliness of sin, or 

disappointed in ourselves, or saddened 

to have to go to confession! 

“Supreme” means we are sorry 

because we know God is the highest 

good, and that sin, because it offends 

and separates us from him, is the 

worst evil. It also means we deliberately 

reject sin more than we reject 

anything else, and choose God in 

preference to everything. 

If we are saddened by 

our sins but still prefer 

them over complete 

conversion, our 

contrition is not 

yet supreme. 

Finally our contrition, 

to be perfect, 

must be 

“universal”: It 

must apply to 

all our 

mortal 

sins, 

“The Tears of 

Saint Peter,” 

by Jusepe de 

Ribera, 1612–13. 

without exception. Even if we cannot 

remember each one of our sins at the 

moment, universal contrition is possible 

because we can still, in an instant, 

by God’s grace, despise everything 

that is not pleasing to God. Our 

contrition is universal if we would 

reject every sin out of love for God, 

and forgive everyone who has sinned 

against us, regardless of whether we 

can, at the moment, actually recall 

every sin of ours or every person we 

ought to forgive. 

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 


Joi 

St. 

and 

bus 

“We cannot produce contrition by our natural human efforts: 

It arises from supernatural charity, and is a gift from God.” 

N 

We may not know how long it will 

be before we can all return to Mass, 

to frequent Communion and confession. 

But meanwhile, we must 

not imagine God has left us alone: 

He is always our loving Father, and 

his infinite goodness and mercy are 

ours still. Christ, risen from the dead, 

forever lives to make intercession for 

us. Even when we cannot approach 

his mysteries, the sacraments, Christ is 

not far from us. 

In this difficult time we might 

especially seek the intercession of St. 

Thérèse of Lisieux. She knew, in the 

last months of her life, that she might 

die without the sacraments, but her 

serenity was undisturbed. 

“Without doubt,” she said, “it is a 

great thing to receive the Sacraments; 

but when the good God does not 

permit this, it is good all the same: 

everything is grace.” All things, in other 

words, work for good for those who 

love God (see Romans 8:28). 

Father Bernard Mulcahy, OP, Ph.D., 

is associate professor of theology at 

the Pontifical College Josephinum in 

Columbus, Ohio. 

J 

A 

Pope Francis uses incense to 

venerate an image of St. Thérèse 

of Lisieux during a prayer vigil in 

St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican 

Oct. 1, 2019. 

PAUL HARING/CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE 

Pardon, pandemic-style 

At his livestreamed morning 

Mass March 20, Pope Francis 

reminded Catholics that people 

who cannot get to confession because 

of the coronavirus (COVID-19) 

lockdown or another serious reason, 

can go to God directly, be specific 

about their sins, request pardon, and 

experience God’s loving forgiveness. 

“This is the right time, the 

opportune moment. An act of 

contrition done well, and our souls 

24 • ANGELUS • April 24-May 1, 2020 

will become white like the snow,” the 

pope said. 

Lent is a special time “to let God 

wash us, purify us, to let God 

embrace us,” the pope said, and the 

best place for that is the confessional. 

“But many people today would tell 

me, ‘Father, where can I find a priest, 

a confessor, because I can’t leave the 

house? And I want to make peace 

with the Lord, I want him to embrace 

me, I want the Father’s embrace.’ ” 

The pope said his response would 

be: “Do what the Catechism [of the 

Catholic Church] says. It is very 

clear: If you cannot find a priest 

to confess to, speak directly with 

God, your father, and tell him the 

truth. Say, ‘Lord, I did this, this, 

this. Forgive me,’ and ask for pardon 

with all your heart. ... I will go to 

confession afterward, but forgive 

me now.’ And immediately you will 

return to a state of grace with God.” 

Thi 

WO 

bro 

FRE 

Don’ 

daily 

Re

NOVENA TO 

SAINT 

JOSEPH 

April 23 – May 1 

Join us in beseeching 

St. Joseph to end the pandemic 

and open the churches and 

businesses across the USA. 

Tune in to Relevant Radio ® each day of the Novena for 

profound, one-minute St. Joseph reflections, led by 

Rev. Francis J. Hoffman, JCD (Fr. Rocky), Executive 

Director/CEO of Relevant Radio. 

This will culminate with the LIVE Consecration of the Relevant Radio 

WORLDWIDE Family of Listeners on Friday, May 1, at 1:30 pm, 

broadcasted on 930AM, online at www.relevantradio.com, and on the 

FREE Relevant Radio App. 

Don’t miss a single nugget of 

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RelevantRadio.com

Holy chaos: Parenting 

in a pandemic 

BY ELISE ITALIANO URENECK / ANGELUS 

The creativity of love and 

how to make a mess better 

by openness to grace 

SHUTTERSTOCK 

you in your bathroom?” 

my boss asked me as we 

“Are 

began our Google Hangout 

meeting last month at the start of the 

coronavirus (COVID-19) quarantine. 

The pink art-deco tile of my one-bedroom 

apartment rental gave me 

away. “Yes,” I sheepishly responded. 

I explained to her that my infant son 

was napping in the bedroom and my 

husband was on a conference call in 

our living room. 

“This is the only square footage left,” 

I sighed. 

By now I know that I’m far from 

the only parent juggling professional 

responsibilities, deadlines, housework, 

and child rearing. The grass actually 

feels pretty green on my side of the 

street when I’m reminded that “teaching” 

is added to that list for so many 

relatives and friends with schoolage 

kids. Then there are those 

with older children, navigating 

their own set of challenges with 

penned-in teens and tweens. 

And this is to say nothing of the 

parents around the world facing 

unthinkable challenges: moms 

and dads in India who cannot 

shelter-in-place; parents in Venezuela 

who were already facing a scarcity of 

resources before the outbreak; Syrian 

parents whose children are witnessing 

a humanitarian crisis on top of this 

horror. 

Parenting during a pandemic, wherever 

one finds oneself, is nothing short of 

disruptive. It has dismantled schedules, 

norms, plans, rules, and order. 

But if it’s going to be chaos, I say we 

try to find a way to make it holy chaos: 

a mess made better by openness to 

grace. “Blessed are hearts that bend, for 

they shall never be broken,” wrote St. 

Francis de Sales. This is from a man 

who spent hours counseling laypeople. 

Surely they spoke to him of domestic 

chaos. 

In a recent interview with his biographer, 

Austen Ivereigh, Pope Francis 

described the mission, as he sees it, for 

all of us in lockdown: 

“We have to respond to our confinement 

with all our creativity. We can 

either get depressed and alienated ... 

or we can get creative. At home we 

need an apostolic creativity, a creativity 

shorn of so many useless things, but 

with a yearning to express our faith in 

community, as the people of God.” 

It was a theme he also touched on in 

his video message ahead of Holy Week: 

“Even if we are isolated, thought and 

spirit can go far with the creativity of 

love. This is what we need today: the 

creativity of love.” 

I have been inspired by the creativity 

that parents have demonstrated for the 

sake of their children in these strange 

times. It is hard to convey the seriousness 

of the pandemic without making 

it seem frightening. 

Providing answers to questions about 

separation from loved ones and when 


Karen Musacchio helps Christopher Musacchio, a fourth-grader at Christ the King School in Nashville, 

Tennessee, with his classroom assignments from home March 24. 

we’ll return to “normal” is hard. But 

moms and dad are persevering and 

finding ways to cooperate with the 

Lord to “make all things new.” 

This week, a college friend published 

an essay in The New York Times 

chronicling how he built a makeshift 

church in the backyard of his Virginia 

home. Since our apartments and houses 

are now functioning as literal “domestic 

churches,” he thought it only 

right to give his children the familiar 

feel of their parish so they do not forget 

the experience of going to church. Of 

his ambition he wrote: 

“I’m a writer ... with little to no 

carpentry or construction skills. I own 

one saw, specifically used for cutting 

bathroom pipes, and a few rusty rake 

and clipper heirlooms from the 1980s. 

Perhaps my sharpest tool, though, is a 

strong will as a dad — to, at the very 

least, remind my kids of sacred spaces 

even if our usual one is off limits; to 

make this forced ordinary time in our 

spiritual lives just a bit more extraordinary.” 

The creativity of love. 

Another friend delivered her fourth 

baby this month in one of the coronavirus 

“hot spots.” Unlike her three 

previous experiences, she did it without 

her husband by her side due to hospital 

protocol barring support persons 

from delivery rooms. 

On the one hand, she was fortunate to 

approach her due date with knowledge 

about what labor entails. On the other 

MELISSA MOON/DETROIT CATHOLIC VIA CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE 

hand, she was approaching her due 

date with knowledge about what labor 

entails. 

In an attempt to quell her anxiety 

ahead of the birth, to give her baby 

the best possible outcome, and to bear 

extra fruit during a time of uncertainty, 

she reached out to friends and 

asked for our prayer intentions. Each 

contraction would be offered for a 

specific request. Though she would 

be unaccompanied in her time of 

need, she and her newborn son would 

accompany us in ours. 

Children in Detroit, Michigan, help prepare a family meal at their home in 2019. Longtime 

home-schooling parents say suddenly having kids at home for classwork can be a rewarding 

family experience that allows more one-on-one time with children. 

RICK MUSACCHIO/TENNESSEE REGISTER 


Another friend’s creativity was more 

modest but no less important. She 

posted on social media that having 

been unable to get to the grocery store 

for several weeks, she made a game 

for her six children: Using all of the 

remaining ingredients in the pantry, 

they were to come up with a lunch for 

Good Friday. 

What a great way to introduce the 

concept of “going without” to children 

who are not obligated to fast on that 

day and a chance to be in solidarity 

with those who face food insecurity 

and hunger. 


As we approach Mother’s Day and 

Father’s Day, perhaps this year still in 

quarantine, let’s pray for all parents 

who have turned a situation that is 

wholly chaotic into something holy. 

May we look back on the absurdities 

of this time with laughter, and may 

we have cultivated new, lasting habits: 

like making our homes into sacred 

spaces, praying for one another in all 

circumstances, consuming what we 

have before buying more, and keeping 

our bathrooms clean and camera-ready 

at all times. 

Elise Italiano Ureneck is a communications 

professional who writes from 

Massachusetts. 


Abide in me 

My RCIA journey was 

supposed to conclude 

at this year’s Easter Vigil. 

What is God trying to 

tell us in a pandemic? 

BY ALISON NASTASI / ANGELUS 

The paschal candle is lit at the beginning of Easter Vigil 

Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels April 11. 

28 • ANGELUS • April 24-May 1, 2020 

VICTOR ALEMÁN


Across two Sundays in early March, RCIA candidates 

and catechumens stood shoulder to shoulder in the 

sanctuary of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels 

during the Rites of Election and Calling. 

Godparents and sponsors prayed alongside them as they 

continued their walk with God through the repentant 

days of Lent into Easter, not yet fully aware of an invisible 

enemy that would change the trajectory of their journey 

during the holy season. 

The threat of the coronavirus (COVID-19) still felt 

somewhat elusive in the U.S. at the time, but in a matter 

of weeks the world went dark. Stay-at-home orders were 

issued, while churches, schools, and businesses closed 

after the World Health Organization declared the global 

outbreak a pandemic. All baptisms and confirmations have 

been delayed until further notice. 

In his Easter Vigil homily, Archbishop José H. Gomez 

noted the consequences of this chain of these somber 

changes and addressed the elect directly: 

“We die and rise with Jesus in baptism, St. Paul tells us 

tonight. And if we die with him, we shall live with him, 

we shall walk in 

‘newness of life’ 

— on the road 

to heaven and 

eternal life with 

God. This is the 

beautiful reality 

of Christians’ 

lives. 

“That’s why it 

is also a sadness 

tonight that we 

cannot welcome 

the elect in baptism. 

We grieve 

that we cannot 

be together tonight 

and we are 

praying for all of you in a special way, my dear brothers and 

sisters. We look forward to the day when we can celebrate 

your new birth through grace, and number you among the 

children of adoption in Christ.” 

In a strangely reassuring turn of events, private celebrations 

of the Mass without the lay faithful continue behind 

closed doors before rows of empty pews. The elect and the 

candidates of our diocese are not alone in their longing to 

sit at Christ’s eucharistic table. Millions of Catholics across 

the world wait with them. 

During Pope Francis’ extraordinary “urbi et orbi” (“to the 

city and the world”) blessing on April 12 — flanked by the 

“Salus Populi Romani” icon and the miraculous crucifix 

from the Church of San Marcello del Corso, both present 

among the faithful during times of plague — the Holy 

Father reflected on Jesus’ words to his disciples: “Why are 

you afraid? Have you no faith?” 

He continued: “Faith begins when we realize we are in 

need of salvation. We are not self-sufficient; by ourselves 

we flounder: We need the Lord, like ancient navigators 

needed the stars.” 

Archbishop José H. Gomez celebrates Easter Vigil Mass April 11. 

In our hour of need, the Lord gives us a divine opportunity. 

“When it is all over you will not regret having suffered; 

rather you will regret having suffered so little, and suffered 

that little so badly,” Blessed Sebastian Valfrè, who tended to 

the poor and war-torn during his time, once said. 

While the plague spread quickly across Europe, St. Catherine 

of Siena nursed the sick without hesitation. During 

the plague of 1576, while the nobility fled the city and 

churches were closing, St. Charles Borromeo, archbishop 

of Milan, offered Mass in the streets, using his own money 

to aid the suffering. 

For those being initiated into the mystical body of Christ, 

the lessons from our classrooms about the tenets of our 

Faith are being lived out in ways we never imagined we’d 

be seeing. Stunning acts of courage and charity in our 

hospitals and neighborhoods offer hope. The love of Christ 

is alive and at work among us, even in this dark space of 

the unknown. 

If you are currently left yearning to be received into the 

Catholic Church, it may be comforting to remember that 

the sacramental graces of the Faith don’t end with Easter. 

A deep desire for 

the true presence 

of Christ will not 

diminish once 

finally taking 

your place in 

the Communion 

line. Your 

studies during 

the preceding 

months — and 

in some cases, 

years — have 

prepared you for 


this moment. 

This is only the 

beginning. 

Jesus tells us in 

John 15:4: “Abide in me, as I in you. As the branch cannot 

bear fruit itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can 

you, unless you abide in me.” This vital and soul-nourishing 

union with Christ demands our patience, trust, 

diligence, and love during this difficult season of waiting. 

“God has brought his children out of persecutions, famines, 

and pandemics,” Archbishop Gomez told the faithful 

on Easter night. 

“We are children of God, and even in these difficult 

times, he knows our needs, and he will give us every good 

gift. He will deliver us from this evil as he brought his people 

out of Egypt, and brought them back from exile. Christ 

is risen and we will rise with him!” 

St. Charles Borromeo reminds us that, “If we wish to 

make any progress in the service of God we must begin 

every day of our life with new eagerness.” Now sounds like 

the perfect time to keep discovering the sacred in unexpected 

ways. 

Alison Nastasi is an arts and culture journalist, author, 

and artist living in Los Angeles. 


INSIDE 

THE PAGES 

By KRIS MCGREGOR 

To Mary through St. Pope John Paul II 

Learning from a modern 

saint’s love for the rosary 

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE 

St. Pope John Paul II praying the rosary while on a walk in Alberta, Canada, circa 1984. 

© L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO 


© L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO 

During these difficult times, 

we may find ourselves struggling 

to find the words for our 

feelings, thoughts, and concerns that 

we want to take to God in prayer. The 

devotional prayers found in the rich 

tradition of the Catholic Church can 

help. 

They provide time-proven words 

and images, often from the saints, 

which can lead us, like a road map, to 

contemplation and meditation. And 

in this sacred space, through grace 

which flows from the Holy Spirit, we 

encounter the living Christ. 

Now more than ever, many of us 

need this form of prayer. The queen 

of such devotional prayer is the holy 

rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. St. 

Pope John Paul II was a great devotee 

of the rosary. He believed it to be an 

antidote to much of what ails our 

world. In “Praying the Rosary with St. 

John Paul II” (Our Sunday Visitor, 

$12), Gretchen Crowe, author and 

editor-in-chief of OSV Newsweekly, 

illuminates the mysteries of this treasured 

prayer through the gaze of the 

beloved saint. 

Gretchen Crowe 

Kris McGregor: What motivated you 

to put together this beautiful book? 

Gretchen Crowe: In identifying 

some of the issues that we’re facing in 

our world and our culture, I hoped 

to show how the rosary could combat 

them: increased secularism, problems 

within the Church, within the family, 

COURTESY OSV NEWSWEEKLY 

the need for peace in the world, and 

all those areas that affect our response 

to the universal call to holiness. 

St. Pope John Paul II had such a 

love for the rosary, and it came out so 

clearly in his beautiful apostolic letter, 

“Rosarium Virginis Mariae” (“Rosary 

of the Virgin Mary”). I wanted to 

show how his love of Mary and love 

of the rosary helped him to embody 

the virtues that ultimately got him to 

heaven. Those same virtues can help 

us get there too! 

McGregor: St. John Paul encouraged 

us all to foster a devotional 

prayer life, not only in the rosary, but 

also to the Divine Mercy and many 

others. How important are those 

anchors for the faithful? 

Crowe: It’s so important for growing 

in the spiritual life and in relationship 

with Jesus Christ. It seems like people 

are always looking for the basics: How 

do I develop this relationship with 

Christ? How do I know that I’m on 

the right path where God is calling 

me? How can I identify the discernment 

of the Holy Spirit in my life? 

St. John Paul, with his direction to 

the rosary and with his example of devotion 

in private prayer and personal 

life, helps us to better discern and find 

answers to some of these questions. It’s 

so important that we grow in relationship 

with Jesus, and a lot of times 

people have no idea where to start. 

But if we start by placing ourselves at 

the feet of the Blessed Mother, she 

can help us. She wants nothing more 

than to bring each of us to her Son, 

and that’s the beauty of the rosary. 

McGregor: The rosary has so many 

beautiful facets, much like a rare diamond. 

Each facet contains a mystery. 

Crowe: There’s always something 

more to be discovered within the life 

of Christ and within the life of Mary 

pointing us to Jesus. That’s one of the 

reasons that I included the spiritual 

fruits of each mystery, which I love because 

not only do we reflect on each 

mystery, but we reflect on the virtue 

that we can grow stronger in as we’re 

praying a particular decade. I find that 

very fruitful in the spiritual life too, 

where it’s not just that this happened 

in the past, in Jesus’ and Mary’s lives. 

It’s that we are called, based on their 

examples, to holiness, and these 

spiritual fruits can help us get there. 

McGregor: The importance of 

cherishing not only the rosary but the 

embrace of this new saint is so needed 

in the Church right now. There’s a lot 

of anxiety, fear, misunderstandings, 

but also a lot of anger. There’s just a 

lot of emotion, and that’s a dangerous 

place, isn’t it? 

Crowe: You can get swallowed up in 

that anxiety. You understand the frustration 

and anger that’s out there right 

now. A lot of it is justified, but at the 

same time, we can’t let that affect our 

relationship with Christ. Despite the 

storms that might be raging, we know 

where our focus needs to be. 

I hope this book can help route people, 

ground them, bring them back to 

Jesus through Mary, to Jesus through 

St. John Paul; help us to find solace in 

the midst of whatever trial we might 

be facing and that the Church is 

facing right now. 

We can see the example of St. John 

Paul, living out the spiritual fruits that 

are associated with the mysteries of 

the rosary and his reflections on each 

of them, and how he can help us draw 

closer into the power of each of those 

mysteries. That encounter with grace 

can change our lives. 

McGregor: You must have a wonderful 

relationship with St. John Paul 

now. 

Crowe: I think I do. We have in our 

home a large photograph of St. John 

Paul, and a statue of him as well. 

We’re able to talk to our children 

about him and the great gift that he 

was to the Church and to the world, 

and how he is now interceding for us 

in heaven. I turn to him every day in 

prayer. 

Kris McGregor is the founder of Discerninghearts.com, 

an online resource 

for the best in contemporary Catholic 

spirituality. 


THE CRUX 

BY HEATHER KING 

Mary Gandsey, restorer of wood 

How a local woman is bringing new life 

to historic homes in Altadena 

A staircase, shown before and after being restored by Mary Gandsey. 

MARY GANDSEY 

MARY GANDSEY 


Native Angelena Mary Gandsey 

was born in Long Beach and 

moved to Altadena in 1984. 

She earned a bachelor’s degree in 

psychology from UCLA in 1968, did a 

few odd jobs, had a child, and needed 

to go back to work shortly afterward. 

“As a kid, I used to help my dad with 

little projects around the house. I’m a 

person who needs to move in my work. 

So I decided that I really wanted to do 

something in construction, maybe a 

carpenter.” 

A neighbor’s mother, a realtor, was 

hiring people to do some painting on 

a spec house. Around 1981, Gandsey 

ended up being part of that first crew. 

Her next job was at an 1868 Victorian 

on Huntington Drive, originally owned 

by the Rose family, after whom the 

city of Rosemead is named. The new 

owners hired Gandsey to do some of 

the paint removal. “I learned a lot from 

the wife, along with some of the others 

there who were doing wood stripping 

and refinishing.” 

From thereon in, she more or less 

trained herself. If she had a question 

she’d ask at the paint store. The owner 

of the Rose family house knew the 

owner of the Charles Greene house, 

of the iconic American arts and crafts 

architecture firm Greene & Greene. 

One thing led to another. Gandsey 

had found her vocation. 

“I’ve worked on a lot of really wonderful 

homes, architected homes from the 

turn of the last century.” 

Typically, such homes have lots of 

wood trim and built-in cabinets that 

over the years have been painted: door 

jambs and casings, baseboards, picture 

moldings, crown moldings, windows, 

drawers, doors, cabinets. 

Gandsey does all of it. She’s currently 

on an eight-month job at a huge, 

three-bedroom Craftsman in Altadena. 

Different woods have unique qualities. 

Each wood has its own personality, 

properties that are unchangeable. Fir 

is a heavy wood with a flame-like grain 

and a red undertone. It’s very splintery, 

which can be a problem. 

Cedar has a similar grain but the 

flame is more rounded. The color is 

blond, much lighter than fir, and it has 

that wonderful fragrance. 

“Recently I’ve been working on gum 

wood, eucalyptus. It has a very interesting 

grain, mostly light in color, but 

surprising streaks of dark that come out 

of nowhere and disappear. It’s gorgeous 

and I really love it. Very easy to work 

with, easy to sand, doesn’t splinter. 

Same with oak and mahogany.” 

She uses a heat gun to remove the 

bulk of the paint. A chemical, either 

methylene chloride, or a newer nontoxic 

stripper called Citrus Strip, takes 

care of any remaining residue. 

“It’s like being an archaeologist. 

When you remove the paint you can 

often see shadows of moldings that 

have been removed: a plate rail, for 

example, or a picture molding.” 

After getting all of the paint off, she 

does a light sanding with 220 or 330 

grit sandpaper, then stains the wood 

and applies two coats of finish. 

“I’m partial to tung oil varnish, which 

penetrates the wood and still has a 

very nice satin finish. Satin is more 

appropriate I think than semigloss for 

Craftsman houses.” 

Those are the broad outlines but 

the work is painstaking. Any holes or 

places where the wood has splintered 

are filled with putty that’s carefully 

matched to the color of the grain. Analine 

dyes, which are able to penetrate 

the grain of the wood and color it, are 

sometimes used instead of oil-based 

stains. Gandsey is constantly keeping 

up with new products, formulas, and 

VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) 

regulations. 

She doesn’t advertise. All her work 

— and there is plenty of it — comes 

through word of mouth. 

“It’s kind of an old-school, Old World 

craft. At times, I’ve had so much work 

that I hired someone to help me. I’ve 

learned you have to have a vocabulary 

for what I do, and if you don’t have the 

experience you don’t really understand 

the patience required.” 

Gandsey isn’t the type who’s likely 

to think: That’s good enough. “I’m a 

95-98% detail person. A single door, for 

example, would probably take 14-16 

hours to remove paint to the finished 

product. That’s why I get these jobs.” 

In trying to train people for the work, 

she’s learned that each person has his 

or her own skills and niche. Some 

people’s eyesight or hearing is better. 

Whether by instinct or training, she 

herself has a fine sense of touch, so 

even with a vinyl glove she can tell 

whether the surface is sufficiently 

smooth. 

Wood refinishers don’t get plaques, 

but there’s a sense of contributing to 

the community and of permanence 

that’s hard to define. 

“It’s a privilege to work on these 

houses that most people don’t get to 

see.” Gandsey has also worked on both 

the Gamble House and Castle Green, 

two crown jewels of historic Pasadena 

architecture. 

“It’s been an interesting trip. It’s so satisfying. 

When I look at this wood that’s 

been covered for 80 years and take the 

paint off, I feel like it’s thanking me, it 

can breathe again. It’s been suffocated 

for all this time. Wood is a living thing. 

It needs to be nurtured and fed and 

taken care of. 

“The work I’ve done makes me feel 

that my life has been worthwhile.” 

TRANSFIERA SU IRA, 401-K, CD 

7.20% 

Interés Anual Garantizado 

Sin pérdidas en el mercado de valores. 

No permita que la volatilidad del mercado afecte su jubilación. 

Tony Hernandez 

LLAME HOY al 562-884-2346 

8060 Florence Ave. Suite 120 Downey, CA 90240 

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

24-Hour_insurance_VN_8-2-19_1-8pg_3-89x2_20%rev.indd 1 

7/17/19 7:47 AM 


April 10-17, 2020 Vol. 5 No. 13 

ANGELUS 

Hope in a time of 

Pandemic 

ANGELUS 

SCREEN TIME 

FOR THE SOUL 

ANGELUS 

GOD’S 

RESCUE 

MISSION 

March 20, 2020 Vol. 5 No. 11 

March 27-April 3, 2020 Vol. 5 No. 12 

What to read and watch 

in a time of self-quarantine

Angelus News | April 24 - May 1, 2020 | Vol. 5 No. 14

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Angelus News | April 24 - May 1, 2020 | Vol. 5 No. 14

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