Angelus News | June 18, 2021 | Vol. 6 No. 12

ANGELUS
SMARTER AND
STRONGER
What a pandemic
taught the class of 2021
June 18, 2021 Vol. 6 No. 12

NOTRE DAME H
On behalf of the administration,
facuity, and staff we congratulate the
298 graduates of the Class of 2021 who
were accepted at more than 240 fouryear
colleges and universities across
the country and around the globe. We
wish them every continued success
and happiness as they join their new
college communities. In the words
of Blessed Basil Moreau, founder of
the Congregation of Holy Cross, may
they continue to he men and women
with hope to bring and “contribute to
preparing the world for better times
than ours.” Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
The University of Alabama, American University, The American University of
Paris, Anna Maria College, Arizona State University-Tempe, The University of Arizona,
University of Arkansas, Art Center College of Design, Auburn University,
Augustana College, Azusa Pacific University, Barnard College, Baylor University,
Belmont University, Bentley University, Bethany College, Bethel College,
Boise State University, Boston College, Boston University, Bradley University,
University of British Columbia, Brown University, Butler University, California
College of the Arts, California Institute of Technology, California Institute of
the Arts, California Lutheran University, California State Polytechnic University,
Pomona, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California
State University-Channel Islands, California State University-Chico, California
State University-Dominguez Hilts, California State University-East Bay, California
State University-Fresno, California State University-Fullerton, California
State University-Long Beach, California State University-Los Angeles, California
State University Monterey Bay, California State University-Northridge, California
State University-San Bernardino, Carnegie, Mellon University, Carthage
College, Case Western Reserve University, Chaminade University of Honolulu,
Chapman University, Claremont McKenna College, Clemson University, University
of Colorado, Boulder, University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado College,
University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Mesa University, Colorado
State University, Fort Collins, Columbia College Chicago, Columbia University,
University of Connecticut, Cornell University, Crown College, University of
Dayton, University of Delaware, University of Denver, DePaul University, Dixie
State University, Dominican University of California, Drexel University, Duke
University, Elmhurst College, Elon University, Emerson College, Emory University,
University of Evansville, Fisher College, Fordham University, Franklin
Universit
Universit
State Uni
versity, G
Universit
Holy Nam
Illinois at
of Techno
sity, Univ
sity of La
Universit
Universit
Universit
versity of
Universit
of Michig
tana State
Los Ange
Universit
Hampshi
versity, N
of Notre D
Universit
Oregon S
sylvania
Universit

E HIGH SCHOOL
University Switzerland, Geneva College, George Fox University, George Mason
University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Georgia
State University, University of Georgia, Gonzaga University, Grand Canyon University,
Grinnell College, Harvey Mudd College, University of Hawaii at Hilo,
University of, Hawaii at Manoa, Hawaii Pacific University, Holy Cross College,
Holy Names University, Howard University, University of Idaho, University of
Illinois at Chicago, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Institute
of Technology, Indiana University, University of Iowa, Johns Hopkins University,
University of Kansas, University of Kentucky, Kenyon College, University
of La Verne, Lewis & Clark College, Lipscomb University, Louisiana State
University, Loyola Marymount University, Loyola University Chicago, Loyola
University New Orleans, University of Maine, Manhattan College, Marquette
University, University of Maryland, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University
of Massachusetts Amherst McGill University, Merrimack College, Miami
University-Oxford, University of Miami, Michigan State University, University
of Michigan, University of Mississippi, University of Missouri-Columbia, Montana
State University, Montclair State University, Mount Saint Mary’s University,
Los Angeles, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Nevada-Las Vegas,
University of Nevada-Reno, University of New England, University of New
Hampshire, University of New Mexico, New York University, Northeastern University,
Northern Arizona University, Northern Michigan University, University
of Notre Dame, Occidental College, Ohio Wesleyan University, Oklahoma State
University, University of Oklahoma, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering,
Oregon State University, Otis College of Art and Design, Pace University, Pennsylvania
State University, University of Pennsylvania, Pepperdine University,
University of Pittsburgh, Pitzer College, Portland State University, University of
Portland, Pratt Institute, Princeton University, University of Puget Sound, Purdue
University, University of Redlands, Reed College, Rhode Island College,
University of Rhode Island, Rice University, University of Richmond, Rider
University, University of Rochester, Rockford University, Roger Williams University,
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, Saint Mary’s
College, Saint Mary’s College of California, Saint Xavier University, San Diego
State University, University of San Diego, San Francisco State University University
of San Francisco, San Jose State University, Santa Clara University, Sarah
Lawrence College, Savannah College of Art and Design, School of Visual Arts,
Scripps College, Seattle University, Seton Hall University, Skidmore College,
Sonoma State University, University of South Carolina, University of Southern
California, Southern Methodist University, Spelman College, Saint Edward’s
University, St. John’s University-New York, St. Thomas University-Canada, Stanford
University, Stevens Institute of Technology, Stonehilt College, Stony Brook
University, SUNY, Suffolk University, Swarthmore College, Syracuse University,
Texas A&M University, Texas Christian University, Texas Tech University, The
University of Texas at Austin, The New School, Ohio State University, University
of Toronto, Trinity College Dublin, Tufts University, Tulane University of Louisiana,
Union College, University of Glasgow, University of Oregon, University
of Southampton, University of St. Andrews, University of Utah, University of
Vermont, Villanova University, University of Virginia, Wake Forest University,
Washington State University, Washington State University Vancouver, Washington
University in St. Louis, University of Washington, Westmont College,
Whittier College, Whitworth University, Willamette University, College of
William and Mary, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Woodbury University,
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, University of Wyoming, Xavier University
June 18, 2021 • ANGELUS • 1

June 18, 2021
Vol. 6 • No. 12
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ON THE COVER
JOHN MICHAEL FILIPPONE
St. John Bosco High School seniors show off their diplomas
during graduation at the school’s Bellflower campus May
22. On Page 12, Steve Lowery spoke to two LA Catholic
high school graduates looking to the future with hope after
enduring family tragedy caused by COVID-19. On Page
15, stories of lessons learned and prayers answered from
several graduates around the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
THIS PAGE
VICTOR ALEMÁN
Eight men were ordained transitional deacons
for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles at the
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels by Auxiliary
Bishop David O’Connell May 29. Pictured from
left: Guillermo Alonso, Juan Gutierrez, Cesar
Carrasco, Kamil Ziolkowski, Justin Ordoveza,
Daniel Vega, Daniel Lopez, and Ramon Reyes.
2 • ANGELUS • June 18, 2021

CONTENTS
Pope Watch................................................ 4
Archbishop Gomez.................................. 5
World, Nation, and Local News....... 6-8
In Other Words......................................... 9
Father Rolheiser..................................... 10
Scott Hahn.............................................. 32
LA Catholic Events................................ 33
12
20
22
24
26
28
30
Class of 2021 graduates on beating a senior year of pandemic
Photos: Ordinations of eight priests for LA at cathedral
John Allen: Latest Church reform moves merit a ‘show-me’ stance
The case for the Sacred Heart as a feast of friendship
Dr. Grazie Christie: The deeper root of our fertility crisis
Does ‘A Quiet Place Part II’ mark the end of our silent retreat?
Heather King and the solemn side of science
June 18, 2021 • ANGELUS • 3

POPE WATCH
For the tired and hungry
People’s hearts and the entire
Church must be wide open to
wonder and devotion to Christ
and ready to embrace everyone —
sinner and saint alike, Pope Francis
said on the feast of the Body and Blood
of Christ.
“The church of the perfect and pure
is a room where there isn’t a place for
anyone; the church with open doors
that celebrates around Christ is, on the
other hand, a large hall where everyone
— the righteous and sinners —
can enter,” the pope said in his homily
during Mass June 6.
“The Eucharist is meant to nourish
those who are tired and hungry along
the journey, let’s not forget this!” he
said during the early evening Mass,
which was celebrated in St. Peter’s
Basilica with about 200 people and
without the traditional outdoor Corpus
Christi procession afterward.
In his homily, Pope Francis looked at
the meaning of the images presented
in the reading from the Gospel of St.
Mark, which detailed Jesus’ instructions
for preparing and finding a place
for Passover and the Lord’s Supper.
Pope Francis said the image of a
man carrying a jar of water reminds
people that humanity is thirsty, “always
seeking a source of water that satisfies
and restores.”
“All of us journey through life with a
jar in our hands” as “each one of us is
thirsty for love, joy, a successful life in a
more humane world,” he said, adding
that only God can satisfy that real thirst
for something more — that hope in an
eternal life that sustains people in life.
Because that thirst is often not acknowledged,
with fewer people seeking
or asking about God, Christians must
evangelize, the pope said.
It is not enough for the church to
be a small group “of the usual people
who gather to celebrate the Eucharist.
We have to go into the city, encounter
people, learn to recognize and reawaken
the thirst for God and yearning for
the Gospel,” he said. It will be that
renewed thirst that brings people to the
altar to encounter God in the Eucharist,
he added.
The other important image is the
grand upper room they find for the
Passover meal, he said, a meal that will
be significant because of a tiny morsel
of bread.
“God makes himself small like a
piece of bread,” so humble, hidden,
and sometimes invisible, that it is necessary
that one’s heart be large, open,
and vigilant to recognize, welcome,
and adore him, the pope said.
The church, he stressed, also must
be a large, welcoming space, “not a
small exclusive club, but a community
with its arms wide open, welcoming to
everyone,” and willing to lead to Christ
the wounded, the wayward, and those
who have done wrong.
“To celebrate and live the Eucharist,”
he said, “we, too, are called to live
this love, because you cannot break
Sunday’s bread if your heart is closed
to others, you cannot eat this bread
if you do not give the bread to the
hungry, you cannot share this bread if
you do not share the sufferings of those
in need.”
Reporting courtesy of Catholic News
Service Rome correspondent Carol
Glatz.
Papal Prayer Intention for June: Let us pray for young
people who are preparing for marriage with the support
of a Christian community: May they grow in love, with
generosity, faithfulness, and patience.
4 • ANGELUS • June 18, 2021

NEW WORLD OF FAITH
ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ
The food of the Lord
It brings me great joy to see our
city and state starting to open up
after nearly 1 1/2 years of operating
under restrictions aimed at curbing
the spread of the coronavirus.
And it is beautiful to see more and
more people returning to church each
week. This coming weekend (June 19-
20), we intend to open our churches
more fully, with the lifting of most
remaining state restrictions.
This is a providential moment for all
of us to renew and deepen our love for
the holy Eucharist.
The Eucharist, as we know, is the
great mystery of our
faith and the heart of
our Christian life. And
after the painful experiences
of the past year,
including having our
churches shut down and
our access to the Mass
and the Eucharist restricted, I pray
that we will come to a new awakening
of what St. Pope John Paul II called
“Eucharistic amazement.”
When we reflect on it, it is truly amazing
to realize that the living God, the
maker of heaven and earth, comes to
be in a relationship with us, with you
and me.
That’s why he sent Jesus Christ into
the world — to show us the face of
God and to show us the path to true
love and happiness.
Jesus became flesh in the womb of
the Virgin Mary in order to give his
flesh on the cross for the life of the
world, and for the life of every person.
Now, he gives his body and blood
to us in the holy Eucharist to be our
food, to be our strength in the journey
of life.
God’s love for us is such a great and
beautiful mystery. Why does God
care? Billions of people, scattered everywhere
in the world. And God loves
all of us, he wants to be in friendship
with each one of us, personally.
When we come to Mass, we should
reflect on this personal mystery of
God’s love for us. And everything
about the Mass is designed to bring us
deeper into the heart of that mystery.
In the Mass we give glory to God
and thanksgiving for the gifts of his
love. The Mass brings us into personal
contact with Our Lord and Savior. We
hear his word in the readings, and we
There is no element of the eucharistic
celebration, not a single word, that
has not been carefully chosen.
touch his body in our communion in
the Eucharist. And his Spirit is present
with us in our brothers and sisters who
gather with us in the celebration.
There is no element of the eucharistic
celebration, not a single word, that
has not been carefully chosen. Much
of what we say and do in our worship
has been handed on in the Church
down through the centuries from the
earliest days. As the Catechism says, it
is “the Mass of all ages.”
And, as I wrote recently, the power
of the Mass, in all its richness, is to
transform us, to make us day by day
more and more in the likeness of
Jesus Christ.
As the offerings of bread and wine
are changed into his body and blood,
Jesus wants to change us through this
sacrament. As he humbled himself to
share in our humanity, in the Eucharist
he is calling us to share in his
divinity.
We have come through an extraordinary
ordeal in this pandemic. It has
impressed upon all of us the fragile
nature of our lives, the universal realities
of sickness and death.
But in the Eucharist we have the
most powerful “antidote.” In the
Eucharist, we have the pledge of
God’s love and his promise that we
can have communion with him for all
eternity.
I hope that in these days and weeks
to come, all of us will begin to reflect
more deeply about our
lives. We can get so caught
up in the anxieties of daily
living, in all the “busyness”
of the everyday. It is
understandable.
But we need to remember
that our lives are not
random or casual. Jesus shed his
blood for you, for every one of us. In
the offering of the bread and wine in
the Eucharist, Our Lord’s sacrifice is
made present again before your eyes
— so we never forget this beautiful
truth of God’s love.
As we begin “life after the pandemic,”
I pray that God will awaken in
us a greater desire to be in his presence
and to live by the bread that he
gives us.
May we live with the same intensity
of faith as those martyrs from the
early Church, who declared, “It is
not possible for us to live without the
Eucharist, the food of the Lord.”
Pray for me, and I will pray for you.
And may our Blessed Mother Mary,
in whom the Word became flesh, help
us to make the Eucharist and the holy
Mass the center of our lives.
June 18, 2021 • ANGELUS • 5

WORLD
Boris and Carrie Johnson after their May 29 wedding in
London. | REBECCA FULTON/HANDOUT
■ Boris Johnson’s totally
Catholic wedding
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s
quiet marriage to Carrie Symonds at
Westminster Cathedral in London
spurred criticism from British media
and Catholics who were confused how
Johnson, twice divorced, was eligible
for a Catholic wedding.
“Can anyone explain to me,” wrote
Father Mark Drew of Liverpool on
Twitter, “how ‘Boris’ Johnson, who left
the Catholic Church while at Eton
and is twice divorced, can be married
at Westminster Cathedral, while I have
to tell practicing Catholics in good
faith who want a second marriage in
church that it’s not possible?”
In a statement, the Diocese of
Westminster confirmed that Johnson
was canonically able to get married in
a Catholic ceremony. “All necessary
steps were taken, in both church and
civil law, and all formalities completed
before the wedding,” the statement
read.
For a previous marriage to be recognized
as sacramental, the couple both
need to be baptized Christians and one
Catholic, both free to marry, and both
receive instruction about the Church’s
teaching on marriage. The diocese’s
statement implies that Johnson’s previous
two marriages have been annulled
for not meeting these requirements.
■ Canadian Church shaken by horrific discovery
Canadian Catholics are reeling from the latest revelation about a residential
school for Native American children’s dark past.
According to a report from Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation tribe
released May 30, an estimated 215 bodies, including some as young as 3 years
old, were found in a mass grave at the former Kamloops Indian Residential
School in British Columbia.
Founded in 1890, Kamloops was run by The Missionary Oblates of Mary
Immaculate and the Canadian government as part of a forced assimilation
program on First Nations people until 1969. It served as a federally run residential
building for students until 1978.
The news follows a 2015 report from a government commission, which concluded
that at least 4,100 students died while attending the Canadian residential
schools for Native Americans over the years.
The Archdiocese of Vancouver, where the school grounds are located,
encouraged all Catholic schools to join its main offices in lowering flags to
half-staff and hold a moment of silence for the victims.
“We have heard and acknowledge that apologies are not an endpoint but a
starting point, and are learning how to walk in solidarity,” said Archbishop J.
Michael Miller in an apology on behalf of the archdiocese.
The archdiocese has pledged full transparency of archdiocesan records for
residential schools, as well as mental health support for the loved ones of
those found at Kamloops.
■ Italy’s bishops want you to go on pilgrimage
Pope Francis prays at the Sanctuary of the Holy House in Loreto, Italy, where tradition
holds that the house of the Holy Family of Nazareth is preserved. | VATICAN MEDIA
The Italian
bishops’ tourism
office is pulling
out all the stops
to promote pilgrimages
in the
country following
pandemic
lockdowns.
From June 1
through Sept.
17, pilgrims to
any of Italy’s
shrines can
receive a plenary
indulgence as
part of the “Ora
viene il bello”
(“Now comes
the beautiful”) initiative, Bishop Stefano Russo, general secretary of the Italian
bishops’ conference, announced in a May 29 statement.
“We are slowly emerging from the dark period of the pandemic,” he said.
“Dante’s words, ‘We come forth to behold the stars again,’ accompanies us
and exhorts us to raise our eyes toward the infinite, filled with that light that
illuminates our confidence in the future.”
Dioceses and local shrines will also host special prayer services and sporting
events to further encourage pilgrims, including a “Pilgrim Day” on Sept. 17
that will include a celebratory Mass at each diocese’s largest shrine.
6 • ANGELUS • June 18, 2021

NATION
■ Wisconsin: Viral priest
battles bishop over resignation
A controversial traditionalist priest in Wisconsin is squaring
off against his own bishop in a bizarre dispute.
Father James Altman of St. James the Less Church in La
Crosse, Wisconsin, announced May 23 at Mass that he
would not listen to Bishop William P. Callahan’s request
that he resign as pastor.
In response, the diocese announced a canonical process to
have Father Altman removed.
“It is important to note that this is not a penal remedy but a
pastoral remedy,” the diocese stated.
Father Altman has made headlines for controversial statements,
including suggesting that women should not preach
“because we need the truth” and that bishops enforcing
pandemic restrictions would burn in hell. He rose to prominence
last year when he declared that no registered Democrat
could call themselves Catholic.
“I am not the divisive one. I am not the ineffective one. I
am not the one disrespecting my office,” Father Altman said
in his May 23 remarks.
As of press time, online fundraisers had raised more than
$640,000 to cover Father Altman’s legal fees.
Words from the wise — Jimmy Dunne acknowledges the crowd following
his commencement address at the University of Notre Dame stadium May 23.
Dunne is a partner in an investment banking company that lost 68 of its 171
employees during the 9/11 terrorist attacks that brought down New York’s
World Trade Center. Dunne encouraged graduates to “grow in faith, aware of
life’s greater purposes, and of Whose purposes they are.” | MATT CASHORE,
UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME
The ruins of Tulsa’s Greenwood neighborhood after the 1921 race massacre. | CNS
■ Ecumenical service remembers
Tulsa massacre victims
Tulsa’s Catholic bishop led local faith leaders in commemorating
the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa racial massacre May 30.
“It is hard to believe that 100 years ago people could think
and act in such a way. It is unthinkable,” said Bishop David A.
Konderla at the ecumenical prayer service inside Tulsa’s Holy
Family Cathedral. “Still, it happened,” he said.
The 1921 massacre happened when white rioters, accusing
a Black man of sexually assaulting a white woman, set the
city’s Greenwood district on fire. Of its 11,000 mostly Black
residents, almost 10,000 were left homeless and as many as
300 were killed and buried in mass graves.
At the service, the current day pastor of Tulsa’s Historic Vernon
Chapel A.M.E. Church recalled how Catholics helped
their Black neighbors. “During the week of the massacre at
the Church, 477 meals were served, 25 babies were bathed
and given clean clothes,” remarked Rev. Robert Turner.
■ Catholic Charities sees big
check from Bush book
Catholic Charities USA announced a major gift from a
new big-name donor: former President George W. Bush.
According to a letter from Bush shared by the organization,
the donation was part of a promise he made to donate the
proceeds of his book “Out of Many, One: Portraits of America’s
Immigrants.”
“In honor of my friends and in recognition of your good
work, I am pleased to enclose a check for $100,000 to
support your Immigration Advocacy & Refugee Services,”
Bush wrote. “Thank you for your efforts to aid those who
have chosen to live among us and for helping them succeed
in America.”
Bush’s donation will go toward aid for migrants at the
U.S.-Mexico border. Some of the 43 immigrants Bush interviewed
and painted for his book had benefited from Catholic
Charities aid programs.
June 18, 2021 • ANGELUS • 7

LOCAL
■ Little Sisters of the
Poor find buyer for
San Pedro residence
The Jeanne Jugan Residence in
San Pedro will continue to operate
as a senior living facility under a new
owner, the Little Sisters of the Poor
announced May 26.
Grace S. Mercado, who operates
three other nursing homes and a
home for disabled children in California,
will take over as owner and
operator of the residence. The news
comes more than a year after the sisters
pledged to find a “mission-driven
sponsor” to continue their work and
allow residents and staff to remain.
In a statement, the sisters said that
“Grace’s own deep faith will allow the
Home to attend to the spiritual needs
of the residents, which gives us great
consolation.
“While it is always difficult for the
Little Sisters to withdraw from any of
our Homes, knowing that the residents
will continue to receive good
care does provide us comfort.”
The sisters have resided and operated
the residence since 1979. The home
has served the elderly since 1905.
■ Feeling (and seeing) the
LA Catholic impact
A new report offers a detailed picture of just how much
Los Angeles-area Catholics have stepped up to help those in
need since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The “LA Catholics Make an Impact” one-year report tracks
the different charity efforts based in the Archdiocese of Los
Angeles. The report estimates more than $10 million was
used to help families across the archdiocese from March
2020 through April 2021, and some 3 million meals served
to students in need through the Catholic Schools Food
Service Program.
Catholic Charities of Los Angeles served more than
230,000 families and individuals, while more than 85,000
items of Personal Protective Equipment were distributed to
Catholic schools in the archdiocese.
“Our Catholic community, through partnerships with
other faith-based and nonprofit organizations, as well as civic
agencies, delivered assistance where it was needed most,”
said Kathleen Domingo, director of the archdiocese’s Office
of Life, Justice, and Peace.
To view the full report, visit LACatholics.com/Impact.
■ Mother Teresa makes a gift to Orange County
An order of religious
sisters with
a familiar name
but a less familiar
mission have a
new home in
Orange County.
The Missionaries
of Charity
Contemplative
are one of the
several branches
of the religious
order founded
by St. Teresa
of Calcutta,
known for their
white and blue
The four sisters of the Missionaries of Charity Contemplative “serve the spiritually
poor through dedicated prayer and spiritual works of mercy.” | STEVEN GEORGES/
DIOCESE OF ORANGE
habits and their
“wholehearted
free service to
the poorest of the
poor,” especially in inner cities.
On May 11, Bishop Kevin Vann of Orange dedicated the convent in Santa
Ana, where four sisters “will offer their prayer and spiritual works for the Church,
especially for the Diocese of Orange” according to “OC Catholic,” the official
newspaper of the Diocese of Orange.
The sisters’ new home was obtained and remodeled thanks to the help of
benefactors and volunteers. The sisters plan to convert the garage on the convent
property into a public chapel where people may join them in prayer.
Final pledge — Graduating seniors from Loyola High School say the Pledge of Allegiance
at the start of the all-male Jesuit school’s graduation ceremony Saturday,
June 5. | JOHNMICHAEL FILIPPONE
Y
8 • ANGELUS • June 18, 2021

IN OTHER WORDS...
V
An obligation to serve all Americans
In the June 4 issue, Russell Shaw’s article “Striving for coherence”
does a good job of outlining the issues facing the bishops at their June
meeting. However, he fails to include the issue that a Catholic elected
to office takes an oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the constitution
of the United States,” thereby promising to serve all people regardless of
faith, in our diverse pluralistic country.
Some bishops would penalize those elected to public office who recognize their
obligation to serve all citizens, not just Catholics and our values.
— William Marmion, St. Matthew Church, Long Beach
Receiving the Eucharist is not a ‘political’ issue
Thank you for Russell Shaw’s excellent article, “Striving for coherence.” It
cannot be overstated that the great gift of Our Lord in the Eucharist at Mass is the
focal point of our Catholic faith.
When public figures hypocritically state that they are “Catholic” but openly
advocate a position that is condemned by our Church as intrinsically evil (abortion),
they are apostatizing — rejecting a cornerstone tenet of our faith, in effect
denying that they are truly Catholic. If I am understanding canon law correctly
(#1364) by their “public show or speech” that is contrary to the faith they have excommunicated
themselves (“latae sententiae”) and are prohibited from receiving
the sacraments (#1331). Ergo, if they approach the altar to receive the Eucharist
they should be turned away.
The only persons making this a “political” problem are the persons unabashedly
advocating this terrible evil. Our U.S. bishops should make a definitive statement
to the public at large and to our Catholics in particular how this freely chosen
conduct on their part has in effect excommunicated them from our faith by their
own choice and negated their opportunity to receive the Eucharist. My ardent
hope is that the bishops will ignore the strident squawking of the secular media
and stand up for the truth by clarifying this issue at their general meeting this
month.
— Greg Polito, MD, KM, Dallas, Texas
Y
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“If God desires our
existence, it follows, why
wouldn’t he want similar
things elsewhere?”
~ Christopher Baglow, a Catholic scientist at Notre
Dame University, speaking to Our Sunday Visitor on
the theological possibility of extraterrestrial life.
“We wrongly associate
those who choose
euthanasia with intolerable
physical pain, but they
usually report an existential
suffering, of being a burden
or feeling abandoned by
loved ones.”
~ Associate professor Leeroy Williams, president of
the Australia and New Zealand Society of Palliative
Medicine in “The lies of euthanasia,” by Tanveer
Ahmed in Spectator Australia.
“It is sad for my diocese that
some towns are kind of
empty and left only with the
grandparents, but all of the
parents and youth are gone.”
~ Unnamed bishop from El Salvador on the
consequences of immigration to the U.S., in
comments to Auxiliary Bishop Mario Dorsonville of
Washington, D.C., as reported by Crux.
Ordination season
Eight new transitional deacons were
ordained May 29 for the Archdiocese
of Los Angeles. | VICTOR ALEMÁN
View more photos
from this gallery at
AngelusNews.com/photos-videos
Do you have photos or a story from your
parish that you’d like to share? Please
send to editorial @angelusnews.com.
“For the sake of the truth of
the Gospel and the unity
of the Church, Rome must
not watch in silence, hoping
that things won’t turn out
too badly.”
~ Cardinal Ludwig Müller, prefect emeritus of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and
himself a German, in “Blessing and Blasphemy”, a
May 24 essay for First Things on the German Church.
June 18, 2021 • ANGELUS • 9

IN EXILE
FATHER RONALD ROLHEISER, OMI
Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father
Ronald Rolheiser is a spiritual
writer; ronaldrolheiser.com.
Losing the song in the singer
Often when listening to someone
singing live or on television,
I close my eyes to try to
hear the song so as not to let the singer’s
performance get in the way of the
song. A song can be lost in its performance;
indeed, the performance can
take over so that the song is replaced
by the singer.
When anyone is performing live,
be it on a stage, in a classroom, at
a podium, or in a pulpit, there will
always be some combination of three
things. The speaker will be trying to
impress others with his talent; he will
be trying to get a message across; and
(consciously or unconsciously) he will
be trying to channel something true,
good, and beautiful for its own sake.
Metaphorically, he will be making
love to himself, making love to the audience,
and making love to the song.
It is the third component, making
love to the song, which makes for
great art, great rhetoric, great teaching,
and great preaching. Greatness
sets itself apart here because what
comes through is “the song” rather
than the singer, the message rather
than the messenger, and the performer’s
empathy rather than his ego.
The audience then is drawn to the
song rather than to the singer. Good
singers draw people to the music rather
than to themselves; good teachers
draw students to truth and learning
rather than to themselves; good artists
draw people to beauty rather than to
adulation; and good preachers draw
their congregations to God rather than
to praise of themselves.
Admittedly, this isn’t easy to do. We
are all human, so is our audience. No
audience respects you unless you do
show some talent, creativity, and intelligence.
There’s always an unspoken
pressure on the singer, the speaker,
the teacher, and the preacher, both
from within and from without.
From within: I don’t want to disappoint!
I don’t want to look bad! I need
to stand out! I need to show them something
special! From without, from the
audience: What have you got! Show us
something! Are you worth my attention?
Are you bright? Are you boring?
Only the most mature person can be
free of these pressures. Thus, the song
easily gets lost in the singer, the message
in the messenger, the teaching in
the teacher, and the message of God
in the personality of the preacher.
As a teacher, preacher, and writer, I
admit my own long struggle with this.
When you first start teaching, you had
better impress your students or you
won’t have their attention or respect
for long. The same with preaching.
The congregation is always sizing you
up, and you had better measure up or
no one will listen to you.
Moreover, unless you have an exceptionally
strong self-image, you will
be a perennial prisoner of your own
insecurities. Nobody wants to look
bad, stupid, uninformed, or come
across as talentless. Everyone wants to
look good.
Moreover, not least, there is still
your ego (and its power can never
be underestimated). It wants to draw
the attention and admiration to itself
rather than to what is true, good, and
beautiful. There is always the temptation
for the messenger to be more
concerned about impressing others
than about having the message come
through in purity and truth.
The subtle, but powerful, temptation
inside every singer, teacher, speaker,
preacher, or writer is to draw people
to themselves rather than to the truth
and beauty they are trying to channel.
I struggle with this in every class I
teach, every article or book I write,
and every time I preside at liturgy.
Nevertheless, I make no apologies
for this. It is the innate struggle in all
creative effort. Are we trying to draw
people to ourselves, or are we trying to
draw them to truth, to beauty, to God?
When I teach a class, how much of
my preparation and energy is motivated
by a genuine concern for the students
and how much is motivated by
my need to look good, to impress, to
have a reputation as a good teacher?
When I write an article or a book, am
I really trying to bring insight and understanding
to others or am I thinking
of my status as a writer?
When I preside at Mass and preach,
is my real motivation to channel a
sacred ritual in a manner that my own
personality doesn’t get in the way? Is
it to lead people into community with
one another and to decrease myself so
Christ can increase?
There is no simple answer to those
questions because there can’t be. Our
motivation is always less than fully
pure. Moreover, we are not meant to
be univocal robots without personalities.
Our unique personalities and
talents were given by God precisely
as gifts to be used for others. Still,
there’s a clear warning sign. When
the focus of the audience is more on
our personalities than on the song,
we are probably making love more to
ourselves and our admirers than to the
song.
10 • ANGELUS • June 18, 2021

IT TAKES A COMMUNITY
How her school’s support system helped a graduating senior
tested by illness and heartbreak make an unlikely comeback
BY STEVE LOWERY
Bishop Conaty-Our Lady of Loretto
High School sounds like a big
name for a fairly small school.
Tucked into the Harvard Heights
neighborhood west of downtown LA,
its graduating senior class of just over
80 young women gathered on an
athletic field bordered by single-family
houses.
Among them was Jeaneth Marroquin,
winner of the school’s Kathleen Kinney
“Conaty Girl” Award, given every year
to a graduate found to embody faith, a
love of learning, and vision. Jeaneth is
an honor student headed to UC Davis
to study law, with hopes of setting up
her own law firm one day to “help
others that don’t have the resources
that they need.”
Poised and serious, she is one of those
young people who seem to not just
have everything figured out, but scheduled
weeks in advance. And yet, just a
few months ago Jeaneth found herself
at a point where she “didn’t want to go
on.”
For all students, the pandemic posed
varying degrees of challenges ranging
from inconvenience to hardship to
tragedy.
Like most students, Jeaneth struggled
with the vagaries of remote learning
brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
She missed being away from school,
The Marroquin family at Jeaneth’s graduation from
Bishop Conaty-Our Lady of Loretto High School
May 28. Jeaneth, fourth from left, holds a picture
of her grandmother, Maria Fulgencia, who died of
COVID-19 last fall. | JOHNMICHAEL FILLIPONE
that “place of fun and joy,” and from
her friends and teachers.
One of the things Jeaneth had been
looking forward to most last year was
Bishop Conaty’s junior ring ceremony,
scheduled for March 2020. But after
that was canceled amid the initial coronavirus
lockdown, as was the return
flight of her maternal grandmother,
Maria Fulgencia Estrada viuda de
12 • ANGELUS • June 18, 2021

CLASS OF 2021
Vásquez, who had flown in from El
Salvador to attend.
Maria ended up spending months
with the family, who were careful to do
everything they could to protect their
grandmother. But the virus still found
its way inside the Marroquin home,
infecting the whole family, including
Jeaneth’s grandmother, whose symptoms
landed her in the hospital. Not
long after, Jeaneth herself was rushed
to the hospital in an ambulance with
trouble breathing.
Though Jeaneth would eventually
improve, her grandmother would not.
She passed away in October.
For Jeaneth, the grief seemed insurmountable.
“My grandma was my whole world,
and when she passed, my world collapsed,”
Jeaneth said.
She became depressed, suffering from
severe anxiety attacks. Her mental
health took the place of her schoolwork.
Missing assignments from the
Verbum Dei graduate Miguel
Geronimo had to act as interpreter
for his family and health care
workers when his grandmother
fell ill with COVID-19.
days of school missed while in the
hospital piled up.
“I slacked off on a lot of work that I
couldn’t bring myself to complete,” she
recalled. “My grades started to fall off,
which had never happened in my high
school life.”
When Jeaneth first came to Bishop
Conaty, she struggled academically,
especially with math. But she learned
to work her way through difficulties,
becoming an honor student and even
garnering a B-plus in her senior honors
pre-calculus class.
But the blow of losing her grandmother
was not something she could grind
her way through. Instead, it ground her
down to the point that her father, Juan,
recalled being
shaken
to hear his
daughter say
“life wasn’t
worth it
anymore.”
“She
wanted to
hang up the gloves. Her grades started
coming down,” Juan said. “I told her,
‘No, you’re not going to do this.’ She
loved her grandmother a lot, so I told
her, ‘You promised her you were going
to be someone, you need to show her.
You can’t give up. There are always
going to be obstacles but you can’t get
stuck on them. You have to put effort
into these things, so that later you can
laugh in life!” he told his daughter.
For Juan, the toughest part was watching
his daughter suffer severe anxiety
attacks. “I took her to psychologists and
everything, and they couldn’t help,” he
said. Eventually, what did was family
— both at home and at school.
Jeaneth said she assumed the pandemic
would mean the end of the
close, nurturing relationships she
enjoyed with some of her teachers.
“When the pandemic hit I thought all
that would change.”
It didn’t. She found that her teachers
were just as concerned, and just as
helpful on a computer screen as they
had been in a classroom.
“The pandemic school ran the same
way even though it was virtual,” she
said. “Teachers were always there for us
when we needed extra help, tutoring
was still taking place after classes, and
school overall ran the same way it did
when we were in person.
“When I needed comfort during the
pandemic, I can truly say that staff and
faculty were there for me through it
all. I could never repay the faculty at
my school for all that they have done
June 18, 2021 • ANGELUS • 13

for me.”
Though exceptional, her experience
is by no means unique for local Catholic
high school students who faced similar
challenges down the homestretch.
Miguel Geronimo of Verbum Dei
High School acted as an interpreter
between his family and health care
workers when his grandmother, Elia
Valdez, contracted COVID-19. When
she died, Miguel said he couldn’t believe
that “someone I saw as a second
mother was gone in a few days.”
He said he leaned on his brothers
for support. “It was hard to find the
heart to keep going,” said Miguel, who
will attend Cal Poly Pomona to study
computer science. “The support from
family allowed that to happen and
they are the main reason I strive to be
successful in and after college. I would
not be the man I am today if it wasn’t
for them.”
That sentiment was the theme of
Bishop Conaty’s graduation ceremony.
Family was on everyone’s minds,
and hearts. Valedictorian Katherine
De Jesus and Salutatorian Katherine
Urbina got choked up talking about
their families during their speeches, as
did the day’s two guest speakers, Nancy
Portillo, assistant superintendent, and
the Catholic Education Foundation’s
Theresa Fragoso.
“Your success is their success,” Theresa
told the students.
Jeaneth credits the values passed on
by her parents for seeing her through
the most extraordinary of times: humility,
helping others, and faith in God.
“I know that God does everything
for a reason, and that the outcome is
always better than the setback,” said
Jeaneth. “l am truly blessed to have
made it this far; I wouldn’t have been
able to do it without God, family, and
friends.”
Steve Lowery is the arts and culture
editor for the Long Beach Post and a parishioner
at American Martyrs Church
in Manhattan Beach.
CLASS OF 2021
14 • ANGELUS • June 18, 2021

PART OF GOD’S PLAN
Stories of what LA Catholic high school graduates lost —
and found — this year in the dark days of the pandemic
BY TOM HOFFARTH
For the more than 5,700 graduating seniors from Catholic high schools across the
Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the last few weeks have marked the end of a journey
whose final year was marred by uncertainty, isolation, and often, heartbreak.
But there were also vital lessons learned, prayers answered, and new opportunities
discovered while having to finish high school during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of this year’s graduates shared with Angelus about what graduation means to
them as they continue to college and beyond.
CLASS OF 2021
June 18, 2021 • ANGELUS • 15

SACRED HEART HIGH SCHOOL,
LOS ANGELES
Kelley Manzo, a standout middle
blocker on the varsity volleyball team
that went to the state tournament in
2019, was her school’s senior class president
and a top-three scholar.
It is a long way from the time she and
her siblings were abandoned by her
mother and raised by her grandmother
and uncle.
During the pandemic summer before
her senior year, Manzo decided to
move to Yucaipa to be with her grandmother
and continue distance learning.
“The craziness and uncertainties that
were happening all around pushed me
to this change,” said Manzo. “At first,
it was very difficult to be 80 miles away
from the rest of the family and friends. I
found myself very lonely in Yucaipa.
“What helped me persevere most is
wanting to make my family proud and
take advantage of the opportunity I
was given. My other six siblings did not
have the opportunity to attend a private
school and have the education I did. I
also wanted to be the one to end the cycle
of drugs and crimes that my family
found themselves in.
“My Catholic faith has always taught
me to put my trust in God, and I knew
that what was going on around us was
all part of God’s plan. I kept my faith
and hope in home.”
Manzo will go to UC Riverside, where
she will study biochemistry with an
eye on a career as a veterinarian. She
is a recipient of the prestigious “Angels
Scholarship” that covers costs for all
four years of college.
SAINT JOSEPH HIGH SCHOOL,
LAKEWOOD
Analise Espinoza said she last saw
her father, Raul, when she was at their
Whittier home.
He had been exposed to COVID-19
and was in danger as she was in a distance
learning class on the first day after
Christmas break starting her second
semester.
“I stepped out of my room to see my
dad being taken to the hospital,” she
said.
The family could only Facetime
with him three times every day, and it
seemed he was getting better. But soon
he was intubated when his breathing
labored.
When the phone call eventually
came that he had died, “it was unreal,”
Espinoza said. “It was hard to come
to terms that he was not coming back
home and I would never be able to hug
him again.”
An only child, Espinoza realized she
had to be strong for her mother, Martha,
in what she called a “life-changing
moment.”
“I can say I believe I have pushed
through and tried to not allow myself to
be consumed with this negative and sad
feeling, but continue to make my dad
proud and having him present through
my words and actions.”
Espinoza did not return to the Saint
Joseph campus for senior year, but
participated in some events toward the
end of the semester “to have a feeling
of some normality and interact and
truly feel like a senior,” which included
attending prom and dancing with her
friends.
Espinoza with her late father Raul.
The 18-year-old will be attending the
University of La Verne this fall, majoring
in business administration and
dedicating her studies to her “amazing,
loving, supportive, and inspirational
dad, who is in heaven with God and is
my constant guardian angel.”
Edalyn Bray, a 17-year-old from
Bellflower, will head to Baylor University
in Waco, Texas, to major in biomedical
engineering on a pre-med track
with hopes of becoming an orthopedic
surgeon or anesthesiologist.
She said school had always been “a
big part of defining myself,” and not
being on campus was a “huge disadvantage
... one of the greatest parts of
my high school journey was taken away
from me. I was anxious to get back.”
But she also saw her mother, Henyday,
in and out of the hospital with
immense asthma issues due to recent
Southern California fires during this
time.
“There were many days I cried and
was worrying about so many things,”
said Bray. “I felt there was a point I
just wanted to drop out of school. I felt
helpless to my entire family, friends,
and community.”
Bray took on more part-time shifts at
a local café to help the family pay for
medical bills. She also benefited from
the senior Kairos three-day retreat that
helped “give me answers to what I was
looking for in my relationship with
God.”
One of the actions Bray also took was
establishing a nonprofit organization
called “Hearts of Learning,” offering
free educational resources and tools
to schools in need around the world.
She received a Christian Service Award
from the archdiocese.
Natalia Rodriguez’s adjustments to
distance learning took on a new chal-
16 • ANGELUS • June 18, 2021

lenge when her brother, David, was
diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, a case of
rhabdomyosarcoma.
Rodriguez with her brother David.
“I had been struggling in school
because of the pandemic and this made
it harder to see my brother while he
was in the hospital,” said Rodriguez,
who lives in South Central LA. “My
teachers were very understanding of my
situation and helped me with whatever
I needed. I can see this as a life lesson,
by being able to push through this
tough situation knowing it is always OK
to ask for help.”
A three-year member of her school’s
volleyball team, Natalia heads to Cal
State Long Beach to major in sociology.
David Rodriguez, 16, was able to go
back to school at St. John Bosco High.
BISHOP MORA SALESIAN HIGH
SCHOOL, LOS ANGELES
Christopher Rosado, who at age 3
was allowed by his mother to have her
sister and mother raise him as his father
was incarcerated and they were experiencing
homelessness, channeled the
words of Maya Angelou’s poem “Still
I Rise” in a speech to classmates and
families at the school’s Senior Awards
Ceremony recently.
The senior class president won a
$120,000 Evans Scholarship to attend
Northwestern University and study
law — based on his involvement in the
Chicago-based Caddie Academy Program.
Rosado was made aware of the
program by his principal, Alex Chacon,
as a way to introduce him to sports and
improve his interpersonal skills as a caddy
on a golf course.
Rosado, in fact, said he knew nothing
about golf before taking the leap of
faith to try this program.
“It’s very tough to recruit students
whose families are OK with sending
their 15-year-old to Chicago every summer
during high school but it worked
well for him,” said Chacon. “We are all
so proud of him and his efforts in the
face of so much adversity, and we know
we will hear of his many accomplishments
for years to come.”
VERBUM DEI HIGH SCHOOL,
SOUTH LOS ANGELES
Geovanny Martinez said the main
thing he learned about himself during
the pandemic “is that I am an overcomer.
I began to see the value of hard
work, not only in my schoolwork but in
also playing the viola.”
Since the age of 10, Martinez has
played viola for the Youth Orchestra
of Los Angeles, a group affiliated with
the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In
2019, that gave him a chance to go to
Scotland, London, and South Korea for
the Philharmonic’s 100th anniversary
of touring. Through participation in
the nonprofit LA-based Eagle Empowerment,
Inc., he has also traveled
to 40 states and Belize to broaden his
CLASS OF 2021
understanding of the world.
“Playing the viola during quarantine
helped me keep a schedule and have
discipline to practice,” said Martinez,
an 18-year-old from Inglewood who
is heading to Drexel University in
Philadelphia to study biomedical engineering.
“My faith in Christ has helped
me persevere and handle challenges
through hard times.”
By the way, Martinez’s middle name is
Champion.
NOTRE DAME ACADEMY,
LOS ANGELES
Joselin Ordoñez-Garcia, salutatorian
of her class, admitted that
COVID-19 restrictions made her first
semester as a senior stressful and worried
about college acceptance.
The LA native will soon begin her
major in neuroscience at USC, just a
few blocks from home.
“It was also difficult to choose which
college I wanted to attend,” the 18-yearold
told Angelus. “Because of COVID
restrictions and financial issues, I was
not able to visit many campuses. I
could only visit USC since I live just a
few blocks from the campus. Thankfully,
I was able to figure it all out, and it
turned out well for me.”
The first in her family to finish high
school, Ordoñez-Garcia attended
Catholic elementary and middle
school, but credits the faith formation
she received at Notre Dame with helping
her surmount the obstacles of an
unpredictable final year.
June 18, 2021 • ANGELUS • 17

“[At Notre Dame], I learned more
about my faith and different types of
prayers that I can incorporate into my
personal life. Those moments also gave
me time to reflect on my own actions
and myself in general. Over this time, it
was difficult to find a quiet time when
I could just let go of all of my stress
and worries, but I was able to find that
peace during my prayer time.”
“I feel that my relationship with God
and my faith became stronger throughout
this period of my life, and that
relationship is something that I want to
continue to strengthen.”
ST. MONICA HIGH SCHOOL,
SANTA MONICA
“Staying at home with eight people
and seven animals was a little hectic
at times, but learning how to convey
our thoughts and feelings became a
necessity.”
Zachary Mikhail became associate
student body president at St. Monica’s
in a year when the student body was
mostly only available via Zoom calls.
“My goal this year was to cultivate
school spirit, but as I’m sure you can
imagine, it is hard to cultivate school
spirit when nobody is at school,” said
the Los Angeles resident.
For Mikhail, the situation proved to be
a valuable lesson in “thinking outside
the box.”
“The whole ASB team was coming
up with solutions to never-before-seen
problems, and I know that the problem-solving
skills we all gained this year
will serve us well.”
After having attended Catholic schools
since kindergarten, Mikhail will stay
the course by attending the University
of Notre Dame in the fall. The decision
wasn’t so simple, though: Because of
COVID-19 restrictions, he wasn’t able
to visit the campus for the first time
until late May, well after he decided to
accept the school’s offer.
Mikhail says he feels fortunate to be
able to attend another “small Catholic
school.”
“At many big public schools, students
feel like just another number. At St.
Monica’s I have always felt like a family
member, even during distance learning.
I am truly grateful that I was able
to go to a Catholic high school, and I
am very excited for four more years of
Catholic school at Notre Dame.”
Tom Hoffarth is an award-winning
journalist based in Los Angeles.
Taylor Lugo was elected president
of the school’s Black Cultural Society
right at the time of the death of George
Floyd in May 2020, also during the
initial COVID-19 lockdown.
“I had pushed for a discussion to be
made at my school and further discussions
on African American representation
in our school curriculum,” said
Lugo. “Although the discussion is still
going, I am glad I was able to start the
needed conversation.”
Lugo said the key take-away from
her senior year was about the value of
communication.
“Before quarantine, communicating
came so easily. Technology, and seeing
people at school daily, made it simple
to be able to communicate clearly to
others. With online school, both students
and teachers shifted the way they
spoke to one another. Google Meets,
emails, private chats and longer explanation
periods in class were all heavily
used with distance learning.”
Lugo will follow in her mother’s footsteps
by attending USC in the fall. She
said communication on the homefront
presented its own challenges, too.
18 • ANGELUS • June 18, 2021

GIVING IT ALL TO JESUS
Scenes from the June 5 ordinations of eight new priests
for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
PHOTOS BY VICTOR ALEMÁN
Left to right: Father Francis Kim, Father Andrew Hedstrom, Father Michael Masteller, Father Cesar Guardado,
Archbishop José H. Gomez, Father Jihoon Kim, Father Sergio Hidalgo, Father Patrick Ayala, and Father Matthew Miguel.
Archbishop Gomez imposes
hands on Father Francis Kim
during the Rite of Ordination.
Father Matthew
Miguel gives a first
blessing to his parents.
20 • ANGELUS • June 18, 2021

Father Sergio Hidalgo gives
first blessings to guests in
the Cathedral Plaza after
the Ordination Mass.
Archbishop Gomez greets Father Andrew Hedstrom.
Miguel.
Father Michael Masteller
gives first blessings to guests
in the Cathedral Plaza after
the Ordination Mass.
The eight new priests concelebrate the Eucharist
with Archbishop Gomez at the Ordination Mass.
June 18, 2021 • ANGELUS • 21

Pope Francis celebrates the
closing Mass of the Synod
of Bishops on the Family in
St. Peter’s Basilica in 2015.
| CNS/PAUL HARING
A Roman reality check
The Vatican just announced sweeping reforms of canon law and
the synodal process. But how revolutionary will they actually be?
BY JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
ROME — Pope Francis recently
approved two sweeping reforms,
one of the process leading up
to the next Synod of Bishops and the
other of the section on crime and
punishment in the Code of Canon
Law. Both have been widely hailed as
monumental turning points, especially
by the Vatican’s own media outlets.
So, let’s play a game I like to call
“How big a deal is this?” On a scale
of 1 to 10, where should these two
reforms rank in terms of importance
and lasting consequence?
The correct answer in both cases, I
would submit, is 5, mostly because it’s
10 divided by 2. In other words, these
are both a possible 2 with the potential,
but only that, to be a 10.
Why? Because like so many
much-ballyhooed initiatives and
reforms that roll out of the Vatican,
the important part isn’t what people
say when they’re announced, but what
happens in reality once they’re on the
books. The wise Vatican-watcher will
withhold judgment and channel his or
her inner Missourian, taking a “showme”
stance.
Let’s begin with the Synod of Bishops.
The next synod, devoted to the theme
of synodality … yes, it will be a synod
on synods … originally was scheduled
for October 2022, but was delayed due
to the coronavirus pandemic and is
now set for October 2023.
According to changes announced in
late May, Pope Francis wishes to transform
this next synod from an event into
a process, emphasizing wide consultation
at all levels of the Church. It
will unfold in three stages: A diocesan
phase, a continental phase, and a
universal phase. The opening working
document for the synod, called an
“instrumentum laboris” (“working
instrument”) and on which much of
the discussion is based, will be drafted
according to the results of diocesan and
continental phases.
According to a May 21 Vatican com-
22 • ANGELUS • June 18, 2021

ates the
e Synod
Family in
in 2015.
G
muniqué, the three-stage process “will
help to make possible a true listening
to the People of God to ensure the participation
of all in the synodal process.”
“It is not just an event, but also a process
that involves in synergy the People
of God, the College of Bishops and
the Bishop of Rome, each according
to their proper function,” the communiqué
said.
Pope Francis will inaugurate the diocesan
phase of the synod this year on
Oct. 9-10, with each bishop opening
that phase of the synod in their own
respective dioceses on Oct. 17. The
Vatican’s Synod of Bishops office will
send out a preparatory document and
questionnaire to all dioceses, as well as
the offices of the Roman Curia and the
heads of religious orders.
After that, dioceses will make reports
to their national bishops’ conferences,
and then representatives of the conferences
will consult on a continental
level. That phase is scheduled for
September 2022 to March 2023. The
idea is that when the bishops finally
assemble in Rome in October 2023,
they’ll be prepped with input from
everybody.
The thing is, ever since the Synod of
Bishops was created by St. Pope Paul
VI in the wake of Vatican II, it’s never
really lived up to its potential. It was
always supposed to be an expression of
collegiality and participatory governance,
but, in reality, many cynics
would say it’s played out as little more
than an expensive talk shop, often
simply ratifying conclusions that had
already been reached from on high.
Will it be different this time? The
only credible answer at this point is,
“We’ll see.”
As to the overhaul of book VI of the
Code of Canon
Law, the
penal section
of Church
law, it too has
a long history.
The project
was launched
under Pope
Emeritus
Benedict XVI
and has been
roughly 12
years in the
making. The
Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta,
secretary of the Pontifical
Council for Legislative Texts,
at a press conference to discuss
revisions to the Code of
Canon Law, at the Vatican on
June 1. Pope Francis promulgated
a revised section of the
Code of Canon Law dealing
with crimes and punishments.
| CNS/PAUL HARING
core idea is to overcome the idea that
punishment for crime is somehow
unmerciful or unpastoral, transforming
the administration of justice into a routine
feature of the life of the Church.
There are a few tweaks to the content
of the law, including as it regards
sexual abuse. The crime of “grooming”
someone for abuse was added, and the
new code also criminalizes the use of
“force, threats or abuse of authority”
to solicit sex against anyone, meaning
adults as well as minors.
More sweepingly, the revisions say
that bishops “must” impose the prescribed
penalties for these crimes. The
previous version of the code, issued in
1983, simply said that bishops “could,”
but there was a clear emphasis on
avoiding criminal procedures if at all
possible, preferring “pastoral” remedies
that were perceived as more in keeping
with a spirit of mercy and forgiveness.
Again, here’s the thing: Under both
the Code of Canon Law of 1917 and
that of 1983, sexual abuse against
either a minor or a vulnerable adult
could have been considered a crime
and prosecuted. The problem wasn’t
really the law, but a mentality that
said such matters were better handled
quietly and informally.
What we need time to assess, therefore,
isn’t what the new law says, but
how it will be applied and enforced.
The bottom line is this: If the new
systems for the synod and for crime
work as advertised, then we’re looking
at genuine revolutions with lasting consequences
for the Church, not just in
the United States but everywhere. On
the other hand, there’s a long history of
such reforms starting with a bang and
ending with a whimper.
Allegedly, Chinese Premier Zhou
Enlai once said of the consequences of
the French
Pope Francis and synod
officials at an event marking
the 50th anniversary of the
Synod of Bishops in the Paul VI
Audience Hall at the Vatican in
2015. | CNS/PAUL HARING
Revolution
almost 200
years after the
fact, “It’s too
early to tell.”
Whether
that’s true or
simply urban
legend, the
point nevertheless applies to almost
any alleged Vatican watershed in the
moment in which it’s announced,
including the two latest on the synod
and the law.
John L. Allen Jr. is the editor of Crux.
June 18, 2021 • ANGELUS • 23

A gift from God’s own heart
By calling us ‘friends,’ Jesus offers an answer to our deepest longings.
This month’s feast of the Sacred Heart helps us understand how
BY FATHER PETER JOHN CAMERON, OP
SHUTTERSTOCK
The night before he dies, Jesus
calls his disciples “friends” (John
15:13–15). Jesus has already
made himself known to his followers
as teacher, healer, master, Savior. Isn’t
that sufficient? Why now, in the fateful
moment of the Last Supper, identify
himself as a friend?
Because any god who fails to give
himself to us as a friend can never be
god enough. Friendship is what we
crave as human beings. We need Jesus
to say to us “I call you friends” because
we are hard-wired for a God who loves
us as his intimate companion, a God
who wants to walk with us in the cool
of the evening (Genesis 3:8).
The late renowned theologian Msgr.
Lorenzo Albacete used to say that if
Christianity doesn’t connect profoundly
with what we care about — addressing
the deepest needs of the human
heart — then “you can substitute the
Great Lizard for Christ.” But I don’t
know anyone who wants to worship
the Great Lizard. And the reason is
because Great Lizards don’t make
great friends.
Friendship, wrote Servant of God
Luigi Giussani, is every relationship
in which the other’s need is shared in
its ultimate meaning. If I don’t have a
friend, then I’m alone in my need, and
I don’t even adequately understand
that need. My need can even begin to
blackmail me.
To free us from this, Jesus promises: I
am your friend; I share your need in its
ultimate meaning; I know it, love it, get
to the root of it, provide for it, cherish
it, die for it.
This offer of exceptional friendship
is what the Church celebrates on the
solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart
of Jesus (June 11 this year). Note that
the Church does not observe a feast in
honor of the Sacred Mind of Jesus to
24 • ANGELUS • June 18, 2021

venerate Christ’s consummate wisdom,
or of the sacred spleen to honor his
incomparable courage.
Rather, there is something unique
about the Sacred Heart of Jesus — it
“denotes the entire mystery of Christ,
the totality of his being and his person
considered in its most intimate essential”
(Directory on Popular Piety and
the Liturgy, 166).
This makes perfect sense once we
reflect on the singular importance of
our own heart, which the Church describes
as our hidden center where we
live, a place deeper than our psychic
drives that only the Spirit of God can
fathom and know fully (Catechism
of the Catholic Church, 2563). In
revealing himself as our friend, Jesus
is declaring his desire to do just that.
The entrustment of his Sacred Heart to
us in friendship signals how the Lord
is mindful of the main human misery:
loneliness.
The author of “The Friendship of
Christ” (St. Athanasius Press, $9.99),
Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson (1871-
1914), insists that “the supreme longing
of Jesus’ Sacred Heart is that he
should be admitted to that inner secret
chamber of the soul where the human
being is most himself, and therefore
most utterly alone.”
chains, and places us in the freedom of
divine and now even human love.”
It is wonderful beyond words that
Jesus multiplies loaves, casts out demons,
cures the sick. But our hearts are
restless until Jesus gives us his Sacred
Heart. In our misery we are waiting for
what only friendship can provide, for
“a friend is a lighted coal, and if placed
beside it, it can rekindle a dead one,”
in the words of 14th-century Bl. Simon
Fidati of Cascia. And how many of us
feel like that?
Even more, it is the encounter with
Jesus as friend that galvanizes the disciples
of Christ, transforming them to
young people. At the end of our days
together, the retreatants were invited
to share with the others some grace
they had received. One young woman
got up, stood in front of the group, and
said simply, “I know that God loves me
because he gives me friends.” Then she
went back to her seat and sat down.
That little
Msgr. Robert Hugh
Benson was an English
Anglican priest who
converted to Catholicism.
| WIKIMEDIA
witness overwhelmed
me because
it captured
an immense mystery
so eloquently.
The friends I
have I don’t deserve
— they are
a direct gift from God’s own heart. And
when I recognize that truth as such, my
whole life begins to change.
Msgr. Benson expresses it poignantly
in a poem, “This is My Friend”:
He often seemed to want my friendship,
but I remained cold. / I was
homeless, and wretched, and starving,
and in peril every hour; / and he offered
me shelter and comfort and food and
safety; / but I was ungrateful still. / At
last he crossed my path and, with tears
in his eyes,
He besought me saying, Come and
abide with me.
The entrustment of his Sacred Heart to us in
friendship signals how the Lord is mindful of
the main human misery: loneliness.
But the debilitating experience of our
aloneness can make us suspicious and
even cynical about such an offer. That
is why each year, with the solemnity of
the Sacred Heart, the Church liturgically
woos us away from our lonesomeness
and into an embrace that gives us
our heart’s desire.
In the words of Father Hans Urs von
Balthasar, “God stands in our way, he
haunts us with a love that runs after us,
pulls us out of the pit, casts aside our
become evangelizers who set the world
on fire as friends to others.
“Friendship consists of loving a
human being like one would want to
be able to love each and all of those
who compose the human species in
particular” (Simone Weil). Our union
with the Sacred Heart of Jesus is what
makes that kind of friendship possible
in the world.
Some years ago I gave a retreat in the
Rocky Mountains to a couple of dozen
Let me tell you how he treats me now. /
He supplies all my wants; / He gives me
more than I dare ask; / He anticipates
my every need; / He begs me to ask for
more. / He never reminds me of my past
ingratitude. / He never rebukes me for
my past follies.
Let me tell you further what I think of
him: / He is as good as he is great; / His
love is as ardent as it is true. / I am in
all things his debtor, but he bids me call
him Friend.
Father Peter John Cameron, OP, is
the former editor-in-chief of Magnificat
and the author of 10 books. He is now
engaged in itinerant teaching, giving
parish missions and retreats.
June 18, 2021 • ANGELUS • 25

WITH GRACE
DR. GRAZIE POZO CHRISTIE
How liberty failed fertility
A sign showing a stork carrying a newborn baby
advertises the services of a midwife near Laufen,
Germany, in 2018. | SEAN GALLUP/GETTY IMAGES
There’s a charming old Spanish
saying that I don’t hear very
often nowadays: “No hay quinto
malo.”
The translation to English sounds a
bit awkward: “There are no bad fifths.”
It is used to cheer up a man who has
just announced, stunned and pale, that
his wife is expecting their fifth child
(sometimes followed by another helpful
adage about a baby always arriving
with a loaf of bread under its arm).
The friends prop the father up as
he contemplates the mounting cost
of shoes and schooling. The child’s
arrival may be felt as a shock, they tell
him, but it won’t be long before he or
she becomes an essential part of the
family’s happiness.
These days, this pretty scenario is becoming
increasingly rare in the West.
Statistics show that we have collectively
abandoned the joys of sons and
daughters, even in America. In 2020,
the U.S. fertility rate was an anemic 1.7
births per woman, joining rapidly aging
countries like Singapore and Spain.
For decades we have heard about
the danger of unchecked population
growth accompanied by calls to limit
the size of our families, or to give up
reproducing altogether for the sake of
the planet.
But now we are finding that the
clouds gathering on the horizon are
those of the “demographic winter” that
Pope Francis frequently warns about.
A scarcity of births means the elderly
will greatly outnumber the working
young: meagerly staffed nursing homes
overflowing with warehoused elders;
the leaden loneliness of only children
becoming the norm rather than an
exception; a society that is no longer
motivated by the vulnerable innocence
of children to be decent and safeguarding.
If almost everyone is a childless
adult, “family-friendly” environments
will become anachronisms.
Women working outside the home,
an increasing access to contraception,
and the rising cost of living may
explain what is happening at its most
basic level. But our lack of interest in
children is a symptom of something
deeper: our enthusiastic embrace of
liberalism, dating back to the Enlightenment.
We have had five centuries or so to
marinate in the philosophy that the
most important element in human
flourishing is individual liberty. Whether
we consider ourselves conservative
or liberal in our politics, we have
imbibed the idea that our happiness
is bound up in our autonomy and our
ability to direct our own destinies.
The things that tie us down, like family
duties, religion, tradition, and even
26 • ANGELUS • June 18, 2021

Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie is a mother of five
who practices radiology in the Miami area.
anthropological realities, are more and
more regarded as obstacles to personal
freedom — even sources of oppression.
How could we expect childbearing —
effectively disconnected from love and
marriage by widespread contraception
and legal abortion — to survive in an
age that worships personal freedom?
You don’t have to be the mother of
five children (like me) to understand
that there is nothing less conducive
to personal autonomy and individual
liberty than parenting. I can attest: The
moment that delicate newborn is first
placed in your arms, selfish thoughts
are replaced by the urgent calls of duty,
responsibility, devotion, and self-sacrifice.
Our ability and desire to write our
own destiny unhampered go out the
window when motherhood or fatherhood
come through the door.
But there is a deeper reward that
lavishly makes up for our loss of autonomy:
the noble satisfaction, the deep
contentment, of fulfilling the sweetest
duty imaginable. Parenthood even
leads to the discovery of true liberty in
its ancient and Christian conception:
the condition of self-governance. As
St. Pope John Paul II was known for
saying, freedom “consists not in doing
what we like, but in having the right to
do what we ought.”
There is a global tragedy in the
making here, a tragedy of too many
people settling for a beige existence of
individual freedom and missing out on
a lifetime of colorful joy, as well as an
economic and social tragedy. We must
change course, but the practicalities
of modern life make it increasingly
difficult.
It has become a social norm to
delay marriage or avoid it altogether.
The practice of avoiding pregnancy
has become a defining component
of women’s health care, as though
pregnancy were a disease. The cost of
higher education has been allowed to
balloon, while its quality has dropped.
And expectations of the material
advantages we need to give each child
are sky-high. We have come to accept
the absolute necessity of women in the
workforce, with child care a lower priority.
But these obstacles are all details.
We will have to go to the philosophical
source of the problem.
We must acknowledge that the exhilarating
shaking off of our bonds and
fetters has freed us only for a lonely,
frigid future. The idol of personal
liberty, so promising and enticing, has
finally failed us on a massive scale. It
is time to replace it with a humbler,
nobler kind of liberty.
June 18, 2021 • ANGELUS • 27

NOW PLAYING A QUIET PLACE PART II
THE SOUNDS OF SURVIVAL
Intentionally or not, the ‘Quiet Place’ sequel is an
appropriate film for the end of our yearlong silent retreat
Evelyn (Emily Blunt) on the
run in “A Quiet Place Part II.”
| JONNY COURNOYER/
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
BY PABLO KAY
When “A Quiet Place” came
out three years ago, the film
was an overwhelming success,
earning strong box office numbers
and mostly positive reviews.
Its sequel, out in theaters since May
28, is, well, a sequel. Once again, there
is no real villain in “A Quiet Place Part
II,” just more of the mysterious, deadly
alien-like creatures who have taken
over Earth and make up for their lack
of sight with a keen sense of hearing.
A human’s only hope for survival is
staying quiet – very quiet.
That is still the case in “Part II” (warning:
spoilers ahead). Newly widowed
Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt), her two
surviving adolescent children and
her newborn baby are still in survival
mode, traveling barefoot across rural
upstate New York after the loss of Abbott’s
husband Lee (John Krasinski of
“The Office” fame, also the director of
both films) and their young son.
Viewers may find the sequel’s timing
ironic. “Part II” has arrived more than
a year since we were first asked to save
our physical lives (and those of others)
by hunkering down at home, avoiding
direct contact with other people, and
covering half of our faces in public.
The Abbotts, it seems, were a couple
years ahead of us.
Now, with COVID-19 numbers
falling and vaccination rates climbing,
theaters are looking to get people
back together again, off their couches
and into cinemas. “A Quiet Place”
has been enlisted in that effort, with
billboards around Los Angeles quoting
a critic’s high praise: “This is the experience
theaters were made for.”
It is hard to argue with that. While it
struggles to maintain the novelty and
brisk pace of the original, “Part II”
still finds ways to thrill, using bursts
of noise and silence to dramatic effect
throughout, as if someone in the
projector room were playing with the
mute button.
The film starts with a flashback to
the day the aliens first arrived in their
corner of upstate New York, interrupting
their idyllic small town’s Little
28 • ANGELUS • June 18, 2021

League tournament – and claiming
some lives in the process. More than
a year later, the family is still on the
run. After an accidental breach of the
silent code, the Abbotts are saved by a
familiar face from the flashback: family
friend Emmett (Cillian Murphy), who,
coincidentally or not, is wearing a face
covering when we first meet him at
the abandoned steel mill he now calls
home.
Evelyn’s first words to Emmett feel
pandemic-appropriate: “Show me your
face,” she demands, while he pleads
with her to get lost.
But Emmett, who has also lost family
to the blind invaders, seems to have a
conversion moment and reluctantly
joins the Abbotts’ deaf daughter Regan
(Millicent Simmonds) on a quest to
track down the source of a mysterious
radio broadcast. Meanwhile, Evelyn
and her wounded son Marcus (Noah
Jupe) struggle to remain undetected
back at the steel mill.
The Christian themes of the first
“Quiet Place” were hard to miss. Bishop
Robert Barron, who called it “the
most unexpectedly religious film of
2018,” pointed out a few of them: how
the aliens force the aptly named Abbott
family into a monastic existence of quiet
work, hushed prayer before meals,
and elaborate sign language; the effort
to protect and eventually welcome new
life during Evelyn’s perilous pregnancy;
and Lee’s Christlike act of self-sacrifice
to save his daughter’s life.
“How wonderful that a Hollywood
movie would suggest that what is
needed to keep the darkness at bay in
our time is silence, simplicity, a return
to the earth, prayer, and care for one
another,” Bishop Barron wrote at the
time.
Even without Lee to shepherd them
through the apocalyptic dark valley,
those themes are still familiar in the
sequel. Toward the beginning of the
film, we see Evelyn putting her baby in
a floating basket while water floods her
home. Later, before venturing out in
search of medical supplies for her family,
she assures a terrified Marcus: “You
have everything you need.” And during
that field trip, she visits the makeshift
shrine where her other son was killed
and solemnly leaves her wedding ring
as an offering.
But perhaps the most Christian
Director John Krasinski
and Noah Jupe, left, on the
set of Paramount Pictures’
“A Quiet Place Part II.”
| JONNY COURNOYER/
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
statement in the film comes when
Regan and Emmett discover fellow
survivors living tranquilly in an island
commune, seemingly safe from the
blind aliens.
“We didn’t come to find help, but to
give it,” Emmett assures one of his new
friends, as if understanding that their
peace is only temporary.
By the end of the film, that help
comes when Regan establishes an
unlikely, providential radio connection
that staves off the aliens – one
made possible by her smart thinking,
courage, and yes, her silence. It is also
made possible by the pair’s decision
to leave behind what they know – for
Regan, what is left of her family, for
Emmett, what is left of his home – to
try to save what is left of humanity.
The altruistic sense of mission here
is nothing new – forms of it are rather
common in pop culture (look no
further than the heroic quests in “Star
Wars” and “The Lord of the Rings”).
Still, such a narrative hits differently
at the tail end of our extended stay-athome
retreat from viral danger. While
the first “Quiet Place” emphasized the
virtues of silence, the second shows
us its limits. Sure, religious or not,
we all need places and moments to
retreat from the bombardment of noise
from our world. But we also need to
talk to people, to relate to our fellow
survivors, to visit places and things we
hold sacred. We also need
sometimes, as “A Quiet
Place Part II” suggests, to get
out of our comfort zones and
simply move.
“Part II” was made well
before COVID-19. In fact,
it was planned for release in
March 2020, the month the
pandemic shutdown started.
But perhaps, one might wonder,
there was a different plan at work –
one that has made “A Quiet Place Part
II” a profound, accidental reflection
on what our collective silent retreat has
done to all of us.
Pablo Kay is the editor-in-chief of Angelus.
June 18, 2021 • ANGELUS • 29

DESIRE LINES
HEATHER KING
Evolution and faith, working hand in hand
SHUTTERSTOCK
Catholic theologian John Haught of Georgetown University has studied the
compatibility of science and religion for decades. | WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
and Faith: What
Is the Problem?” is an essay
“Evolution
by Georgetown University
distinguished professor of theology
John F. Haught, which was published
earlier this year by the Portsmouth
(Rhode Island) Institute for Faith and
Culture.
Having asked the same question myself
many times, I read the article with
excitement and interest.
I am no scientist, and admittedly,
even after reading several books on
Darwin, I don’t fully grasp his theory.
But if God is the maker of all that is
seen and unseen, it is simply impossible
that science could be at odds with
religion. If it seems to be, it’s because
we have misunderstood, misinterpreted,
or misconstrued God.
That’s because we see things from
our human standpoint, and from a
human standpoint our major goals
are always: 1) to avoid suffering and
2) to amass as much power, property,
and prestige as possible. We assume a
“loving” God must want those things
for us as well.
So we reject God as antithetical to
our idea of love, instead of accepting
the Trinitarian God and reexamining
our idea of love.
In the beginning was the word — and
I wonder if, in the simplest terms, God
and therefore love are built on, formed
around, the idea of story. Atheists have
no story; followers of Christ have the
greatest story ever told.
If life is not to be inert, static, one-dimensional,
boring, we need drama
and story built into the whole notion
of ongoing creation. Drama is not possible
without conflict, desire, obstacles
— which is to say without suffering.
Moreover, the laws of science have to
be immutable. In order to perpetuate
the species, natural laws have to be in
effect that over time favor the strong,
the intelligent, the able-bodied and
minded. “The rain falls on the just
and the unjust,” as Christ observed,
30 • ANGELUS • June 18, 2021

Heather King is an award-winning
author, speaker, and workshop leader.
which is perhaps another way of saying
(among other things) that the fittest do
indeed survive.
To the nonbeliever, Haught points
out, this suggests “an indifferent and
mindless universe.”
But from an unschooled layperson’s
admittedly intuitive point of view,
Christ’s whole ministry was in one way
a transcending — a fulfilling, as he
put it — of these immutable laws of
nature.
His mission wasn’t to abolish the laws
of nature, but rather to establish that
even with those laws in place, we can
live in interior freedom, integrity, and
love.
In his cross and resurrection, Christ
gathered all of creation to himself: all
those who had been born in chronological
time before him and never
had a chance to follow him; all those
in hell, where he descended for three
days after his death; all those who have
died or will die forgotten, discarded,
abandoned, in agony; all failures,
losers, misfits; all those disordered by a
propensity to sin; all those too weak to
survive, prosper, and procreate in this
red-in-tooth-and-claw world.
In so doing, he assured that in nature’s
scheme, we may be dispensable;
in God’s scheme not a sparrow falls
but what he knows.
The world favors the strong; God
favors the poor in spirit.
The world favors efficiency; God favors
love and extra, “useless” labor that
love inevitably entails: “Who would
not leave the 99 and go in search of
the one lost sheep?”
The driving goal of strong, healthy
parents may be to produce strong,
healthy offspring. But Christ asked,
“Who is my mother and who are my
brothers? … Whoever does the will
of my Father in heaven is my brother,
and sister, and mother.”
In his infinite humility and love, in
offering up his only Son, in a sense
God voluntarily constrained himself
from using more power than he gave
us. He will accompany us, suffer with
us, suffer insofar as possible, as Christ
did on the cross, for us. Suffer, in the
Eucharist, as us.
But he won’t interfere. He won’t
force. He won’t do for us what we
could do for ourselves. Children will
suffer: He gives us the hearts, hands,
and strength to succor them. Natural
disasters, illness, and old age will cause
untold numbers of deaths: ditto.
As Haught observes: “Debates about
God and evolution are usually so
obsessed with the idea that God is a
‘designer’ that the biblical sense of
God as an infinite self-giving love that
opens up an ever new future for the
world goes unnoticed.”
Science can discover the intricacies
of human conception; it can’t form
the human conscience so as to cherish
and protect all life.
Science can give us astrophysics; it
can’t explain why we weep at the sight
of the stars.
Science can describe the phenomenon
of human starvation; it cannot begin
to “explain” St. Maxmilian Kolbe,
who offered himself up to die in place
of a fellow prisoner in a bunker at
Auschwitz.
Science has a word, in other words,
and a fascinating word; but science
never has the last word.
The last word is the same as the
first word. The alpha and the omega:
Christ.
June 18, 2021 • ANGELUS • 31

LETTER AND SPIRIT
SCOTT HAHN
Scott Hahn is founder of the
St. Paul Center for Biblical
Theology; stpaulcenter.com.
The world as wedding
The Bible tells a love story. Scriptures begin and end
with a wedding. In Genesis, God fashions man and
woman, Adam and Eve, and the two become one
flesh (Genesis 2:23–24). At the other end of the Bible,
in the Book of Revelation, St. John sees heaven as “the
marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9) — the
celebration of the communion of Christ and his Church.
In between those two weddings, the love story unfolds. For
Adam and Eve, marital bliss was short-lived. The deadly
serpent tempted them to disobey God; and immediately
afterward they began to blame each other for the punishment
that followed.
They left the human family a legacy of dysfunction that
cascaded down the generations — and the sign of this
dysfunction is marital and sexual disarray. Eventually, the
greatest sin of Israel’s greatest king (David) would begin
with adultery. Later, Solomon’s polygamy would lead him
to idolatry, as Abraham’s practice of concubinage had led
to horrific strife.
Still, marriage remained a great (though wounded) good.
And it remained God’s favorite metaphor for his love for
humankind. He cast his relationship with man in terms of
covenant — a sacred bond of kinship sealed by a solemn
oath. In the ancient world, covenant was the bond that
formed families. Marriage was the most common form of
covenant.
A covenant is fundamentally different from a contract. In
contracts, terms are negotiable; in covenants, they’re not.
God sets the terms of the covenant.
Contracts are normally based on profit; covenants are
based on love. The former speaks to self-interest, while the
latter calls to self-sacrifice.
Contracts exchange goods and services; covenants
exchange persons. Contracts can be broken. A covenant
is unconditional and ongoing; while it can be violated, it
cannot be dissolved.
The differences show us that God’s covenantal relationship
with humankind is non-negotiable, but freely accepted;
that it is based on love; that it involves a sharing of our
very lives — and his very life; that it is unlimited in scope.
And that it is forever. In all of this, the divine covenant is
very much like a marriage.
When God spoke through the prophets, he taught Israel
always to hope and strive for the renewal of his covenant.
And, again, he portrayed the covenant as a marriage. He
spoke of himself or his Messiah coming as a bridegroom to
take his people as his bride (see Hosea 2:16–24; Jeremiah
2:2; Isaiah 54:4–8).
The prophets heralded a new and everlasting covenant,
which would be a renewal of the original covenant between
God and Adam, God and humankind, God and all
creation. It would, in fact, be so all-encompassing as to be a
“new creation.”
The imagery of the prophets, which was employed in turn
by Jesus Christ, was the imagery of betrothal and marriage.
Thus, when Jesus came, he called himself the “bridegroom,”
and those who were united to him in baptism were
called “espoused” (see John 3:29; Mark 2:19; etc.).
It is Jesus, in fact, who gave us the first explicitly marital
interpretation of Genesis. The word “marriage,” after
all, had not appeared in the story of Adam and Eve. Yet
we know the story is about marriage because Jesus said it
was (see Mark 10:2–16). Jesus said that the Genesis story
reflects God’s will “from the beginning of creation,” and
that “what God has joined together, no human being must
separate.”
That which is veiled is holy, to be
unveiled only in covenant love.
St. Paul, in his Letter to the Ephesians, quotes the Genesis
text and explains that this marriage covenant in the
garden is a reference to the covenant between “Christ and
the Church” (see Ephesians 5:21–33). He helps us see why
Adam failed: Adam did not “give himself up” for his bride
as he should have. Christ, however, does “give himself up”
for his bride, the Church. Where the first Adam failed,
with dire consequences, the new Adam succeeded, with
salvific power.
The mystery receives its most powerful expression in the
Book of Revelation, whose Greek title literally means “unveiling.”
Like the story of Adam and Eve, the apocalypse
evokes nuptial images.
That which is veiled is holy, to be unveiled only in covenant
love. What the apocalypse “unveils” is history’s final
consummation, the marriage of Christ to his bride, the
Church (see Revelation 19:9; 21:9; 22:17). And what else?
A new creation — a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation
21:1). It is a reprise of the opening chapters of Genesis.
June is a month of many weddings, and in each of these
such glories are signified. Praise God for the sacrament!
32 • ANGELUS • June 18, 2021

■ AVAILABLE ONLINE 24/7
“Walking with Jesus in Difficult Times” SCRC virtual event. Available to view online 24/7 for free. Event
includes teachings by Father Bill Delaney, SJ, Sister Regina Marie Gorman, OCD, and Patti Mansfield, with a
special video tribute to the late Father John H. Hampsch, CMF. Register for free at events.scrc.org.
■ SUNDAY, JUNE 13
Five-Day Silent, Directed Retreat. Mary & Joseph Retreat
Center, 5300 Crest Rd., Rancho Palos Verdes, June 13, 6
p.m.-June 18, 1:30 p.m. Retreat led by spiritual directors
Sister Pascazia Kinkuhaire, DMJ, Father Joseph Miller, SVD,
and Sue Ballotti offers a unique, contemplative opportunity
to commune with God in the solitude of our hearts. Cost:
Single room: $600/person, commuter: $425/person. Call
Jose Salas at 310-377-4867, ext. 250, for reservations or
information.
■ TUESDAY, JUNE 15
LA Council of Catholic Women Rosary Conference
Call. 8 p.m. Call 1-424-436-6200, code 410510#. Prayer
requests open. For more information, call Carol Westlake at
661-263-0435. (Rosary happens every Tuesday/Thursday
through July.)
■ WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16
Virtual Record Clearing Clinic for Veterans. Legal team
will help with traffic tickets, quality of life citations, and
expungement of criminal convictions, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Free clinic is open to all Southern California veterans who
have eligible cases in a California State Superior Court.
Participants can call in or join online via Zoom. Registration
required. Call 213-896-6537 or email inquiries-veterans@
lacba.org. For more information, visit lacba.org/veterans.
■ THURSDAY, JUNE 17
Children’s Bureau: Foster Care Zoom Orientation.
Children’s Bureau is now offering two virtual ways for
individuals and couples to learn how to help children in
foster care while reunifying with birth families or how to
provide legal permanency by adoption, 4-5 p.m. A live Zoom
orientation will be hosted by a Children’s Bureau team
member and a foster parent. For those who want to learn at
their own pace about becoming a foster and/or fost-adopt
parent, an online orientation presentation is available.
To RSVP for the live orientation or to request the online
orientation, email rfrecruitment@all4kids.org.
■ CORRECTED DATE: SATURDAY, JUNE 19
Father’s Day Virtual Rosary. The Archdiocese of Los
Angeles and Catholic Cemeteries and Mortuaries will host
a special prayer of thanksgiving for Father’s Day weekend
at 2 p.m. Rosary will be livestreamed at facebook.com/
lacatholics and catholiccm.org.
■ SUNDAY, JUNE 20
“Pueblo Amante de Maria” Virtual Procession, Rosary,
and Tagalog Mass. Incarnation Church of Glendale will
host a virtual procession and rosary at 1:15 p.m. to celebrate
500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. Tagalog Mass
to follow. To join on livestream, visit the Incarnation Church
Facebook page. For details, call 818-242-2579.
■ FRIDAY, JUNE 25
St. Anthony High School End of Year Centennial
Celebration. 620 Olive Ave., Long Beach, 3-6:30 p.m.
Centennial celebration begins with 3 p.m. Mass and
includes speeches from Mayor Garcia and Senator
Gonzalez. St. Anthony President Gina Maguire will be
honored for 20 years of service, and Archbishop José H.
Gomez will bless the school’s courtyard and statues. For
more information, visit www.longbeachsaints.org.
■ SATURDAY, JUNE 26
Drive-Thru Food Distribution Event. St. Barnabas Church,
3955 Orange Ave., Long Beach, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Sponsored
by the LA County Sheriff’s Community Advisory Council.
For more information, call Peter Ramirez at 213-440-2707.
■ FRIDAY, JULY 9
Retrouvaille: A Lifeline for Married Couples. Weekend
program runs July 9-11 in Los Angeles. Retrouvaille is an
effective Catholic Christian ministry that helps married
couples. The program offers the chance to rediscover
yourself, your spouse, and the love in your marriage.
Married couples of any faith are welcome. For more
information, visit https://www.losangelesretrouvaille.com
or call 909-900-5465.
■ TUESDAY, JULY 13
Catholic Cemeteries and Mortuaries Memorial Mass.
San Fernando Mission Rey de España, 11 a.m. Mass will be
livestreamed on LA Catholics social media channels and
will not be open to the public.
■ SUNDAY, JULY 18
Vox Vitae California Pro-Life Leadership Summer
Camp. Santiago Retreat Center, 27912 Baker Canyon Rd.,
Silverado. Day camp for teens ages 14-19 runs July 18-23.
Vox Vitae campers explore the truth of Catholicism, the
destruction of abortion and euthanasia, the beauty of
chastity and holiness, and more. Campers also practice
defending their faith and pro-life views. Speakers include
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone and Bishop Joseph
Strickland, and other leading Catholic pro-life voices. Cost:
$200/camper, scholarships available. $100/family for
online camp option. For more information or to register,
visit voxvitae.com.
■ MONDAY, JULY 19
St. Michael’s Abbey Summer Camp. A Catholic camp
for boys 7-14 in Orange County. Experience great
summer activities like hiking, sports, campfires, etc.,
and learn more about the faith. Camp runs July 19-24.
Visit stmichaelsabbey.com/summer-camp or email
SummerCamp@StMichaelsAbbey.com.
■ SUNDAY, AUGUST 1
Eight-Day Silent, Directed Retreat: Jesus is Our Hope.
Mary & Joseph Retreat Center, 5300 Crest Road, Rancho
Palos Verdes. Retreat runs from Aug. 1, 6 p.m. to Aug.
8, 1:30 p.m. Led by spiritual directors Sister Pascazia
Kinkuhaire, DMJ, Father Joseph Miller, SVD, and Sue
Ballotti, the retreat is based on the spiritual exercises of St.
Ignatius. Cost: $820/person, single rooms only. Limited
to 14 guests; register by July 9. For more information or to
RSVP, call Jose Salas at 310-377-4867, ext. 250.
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June 18, 2021 • ANGELUS • 33