Author: Eric Deabill

WASHINGTON (CNS) – Family Theater Productions is marking its 75th anniversary with just one event, a dinner at a Hollywood hotel April 27, because the folks there are just too busy to do more.

Family Theater wants to start production on, among other things, an animated series based on a popular children’s book series and a holiday-themed film, said Holy Cross Father David Guffey, national director of Family Theater Productions.

The anniversary, to be celebrated at the iconic Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard, is a tribute to the “humble beginnings rooted in prayer” of Holy Cross Father Patrick Peyton, the Catholic production company’s founder, and his “faith and trust in God,” Father Guffey said in a statement ahead of the event.

“The 75th anniversary is also a tribute to the ways Hollywood and entertainment have changed,” he said, from radio production to TV and films and now social media, apps and video.

Back in 1947, when Father Peyton founded Family Theater Productions, it was a relative snap to get that era’s stars on a stage or behind a microphone. Those stars included Bob Newhart, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Loretta Young and Lucille Ball, among many others.

Now “it takes two to six years to get a film made,” Father Guffey told Catholic News Service during an April 14 phone interview from Hollywood. The process, he noted, starts with getting the script written, then comes casting and financing, plus many other things in between.

Back then “there were only a few distribution patterns, but there was a great need for this content,” Father Guffey said. “People were hungry to deal with Catholics.”

Now, there are seemingly limitless distribution networks — Father Guffey cited YouTube and Vimeo as just two. But also today, “sometimes it can be harmful to a mainstream career if you participate in a Catholic project,” he added.

In 1947, when radio was king and broadcast television was in its infancy, word got out — and fast — about something airing coast-to-coast. Today, those things “go viral,” but the audience is more diffuse.

Father Guffey said anyone with a smartphone is able to access content. “There are a lot of great things created every single day. The single biggest thing is finding our audience, letting your audience know about it,” he added, noting he had found something recently, but “I feel I’ve discovered something that’s been out for a year.”

In addition to new projects, Family Theater Productions is still finding outlets for two of last year’s projects: “The House That Rob Built,” about a women’s college basketball coach, and “Pray: The Patrick Peyton Story.”

Family Theater made a deal with UP TV to debut “Pray” over Easter weekend, and to offer it UP’s streaming service starting in June.

Other streaming deals are done “on a case-by-case basis,” Father Guffey told CNS.

With Family Theater Productions now having 75 years under its belt, there’s a five-year plan afoot.

“We have a direction that we’re headed,” Father Guffey said. “We really believe that great stories unlock the heart and open up people’s heart to the possibility of love and faith in new ways. We believe in the power of narrative, either in a document or a scripted film.”

Those would come in the form of feature films and possibly a limited television series “to bring beauty from the Catholic tradition to audiences throughout the world,” he said. “We’ll always be involved in Catholic content creation.”

That “throughout the world” phrase has its origins in 1958, when Family Theater made its first films. It was a 15-part series on the mysteries of the rosary, which was Father Peyton’s focus. The Irish-born priest, who is a candidate for sainthood, was known as the “rosary priest” for his dedication to spreading love of the rosary and family prayer.

“Our first effort to get it (the series) to the world was what we called a mission kit,” Father Guffey explained. “We sent the mission a mission kit — 15 reels, a film projector with a speaker and a screen you could put against the wall.” He added that for some of the Catholic faithful in places like Peru and Chile, it was “perhaps the first film they ever saw.”

“It’s become so much easier now, the whole world has access to YouTube” and a host of streaming platforms, he said. “We make an effort to make that popular. We’ve done this through the last 30 years. We dub into Spanish but we also have subtitles in French and Portuguese and sometimes other languages as well.”

In a throwback moment, the anniversary dinner will feature a live performance of a vintage Family Theater radio drama.

Father Guffey found a director who specializes in radio dramas, and someone to do sound effects live as they did in the old days. Starring in the reenactment will be Clarence Gilyard (“Walker, Texas Ranger”) and Michael Harney (“Orange Is the New Black”).

At the same time, Father Guffey is keeping an eye on the success of “Father Stu,” the new movie starring and produced by Mark Wahlberg.

“God bless Mark Wahlberg, a big risk to his career, and I hear he financed much of it. If it does well, there is an audience for faith-based content,” he said. “People tell me they want more of it. Then we’ll share it and see that they can make more of it.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The joy of Christ’s resurrection is needed now more than ever in a time when war in Ukraine and other parts of the world makes the hope for peace seem like an illusion, Pope Francis said before giving his Easter blessing.

Like the disciples who were at first doubtful of Jesus rising from the dead, “our eyes, too, are incredulous on this Easter of war,” the pope said as he prepared April 17 to give his Easter blessing “urbi et orbi” (“to the city and the world”).

“We have seen all too much blood, all too much violence. Our hearts, too, have been filled with fear and anguish, as so many of our brothers and sisters have had to lock themselves away in order to be safe from bombing,” he said.

Nevertheless, Christ’s victory over death “is not an illusion” and the world needs “the crucified and risen Lord so that we can believe in the victory of love, and hope for reconciliation.”

Earlier in the day, the Vatican said an estimated 55,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square in the first outdoor Easter Mass since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. A vast floral arrangement adorned the steps leading to the basilica, highlighting the festive atmosphere.

According to Vatican News, the display of flowers, imported from the Netherlands, featured more than 40,000 individual flowers, plants and trees, including tulips, daffodils, and birch trees that accented the joyful celebration of Christ’s resurrection.

Pope Francis did not deliver a homily during the Mass; instead, a hushed silence filled the packed square for several minutes of quiet, prayerful reflection.

As Mass progressed, tens of thousands more began lining the streets outside the square. The Vatican said police estimated 100,000 people had gathered for the post-Mass blessing.

Before the blessing, the pope, standing on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, addressed the crowd. However, due to knee problems that have caused him difficulty walking and standing for long periods of time, the pope sat and spoke for part of his address.

In his address, the pope said the joyous announcement of Jesus’ resurrection is sorely needed “at the end of a Lent that has seemed endless.”

“We emerged from two years of pandemic, which took a heavy toll,” the pope said. “It was time to come out of the tunnel together, hand in hand, pooling our strengths and resources.”

However, the pope said that instead of unity, the world has shown that “we still have within us the spirit of Cain, who saw Abel not as a brother, but as a rival, and thought about how to eliminate him.”

Only Christ, he added, who bears the wounds inflicted “upon him by our sins, by our hardness of heart, by our fratricidal hatred” has the right “to speak to us of peace.”

“The wounds on the body of the risen Jesus are the sign of the battle he fought and won for us, won with the weapons of love, so that we might have peace and remain in peace,” the pope said.

Continuing his address, Pope Francis prayed for peace in Ukraine and for its people who have been “sorely tried” by the “cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged,” and he urged world leaders to listen to the “people’s plea for peace.”

“May there be an end to the flexing of muscles while people are suffering,” the pope said. “Please, let us not get used to war! Let us all commit ourselves to imploring peace, from our balconies and in our streets!”

The pope also prayed for the countless Ukrainian refugees forced to flee the horrors of war, especially children who were left orphaned.

“As we look at them, we cannot help but hear their cry of pain, along with that of all those other children who suffer throughout our world: those dying of hunger or lack of medical care, those who are victims of abuse and violence, and those denied the right to be born,” he prayed.

Pope Francis also prayed that the war in Ukraine may make the world more aware of the suffering caused by war in other parts of the world, especially in the Middle East, which has been “racked by years of conflict and division.”

The pope prayed for peace in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, as well as the Holy Land.

“May Israelis, Palestinians and all who dwell in the holy city, together with the pilgrims, experience the beauty of peace, dwell in fraternity and enjoy free access to the holy places in mutual respect for the rights of each,” he said.

He also called for peace in Myanmar, Afghanistan, Libya and Yemen, a country he said “suffers from a conflict forgotten by all, with continuous victims.”

The pope prayed that Jesus would bring peace to the African continent “so that the exploitation it suffers and the hemorrhaging caused by terrorist attacks — particularly in the Sahel region — may cease, and that it may find concrete support in the fraternity of the peoples.”

He also prayed that Ethiopia may continue on the path of reconciliation and dialogue and for an end to violence in Congo. The pope also expressed solidarity for the people of South Africa who have suffered due to devastating floods in the eastern part of the country.

Turning his attention toward Latin America, Pope Francis prayed for its people “who have seen their social conditions worsen in these difficult times of pandemic, exacerbated as well by instances of crime, violence, corruption and drug trafficking.”

He also prayed the Indigenous people of Canada, whom he met earlier in the month to apologize for the church’s role in running residential schools, where many children suffered abuse.

“Let us ask the risen Lord to accompany the journey of reconciliation that the Catholic Church in Canada is making with the Indigenous peoples. May the spirit of the risen Christ heal the wounds of the past and dispose hearts to seek truth and fraternity,” he said.

Standing up from his seat before delivering his blessing, Pope Francis said that while the world suffers the consequences of war, the resurrected Christ who conquered death “exhorts us not to surrender to evil and violence.”

“May we be won over by the peace of Christ! Peace is possible; peace is a duty; peace is everyone’s primary responsibility!” the pope said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The joy of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead gives joy and strength to those who are called to bring peace, reconciliation and justice to the suffering and the downtrodden, Pope Francis said.

“Let us make Jesus, the Living One, rise again from all those tombs in which we have sealed him,” the pope said in his homily April 16 during the Easter Vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica.

“Let us bring him into our everyday lives: through gestures of peace in these days marked by the horrors of war, through acts of reconciliation amid broken relationships, acts of compassion toward those in need, acts of justice amid situations of inequality and of truth in the midst of lies. And above all, through works of love and fraternity,” he said.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, was the main celebrant at the Mass, and Pope Francis delivered his homily from a chair in front of the altar. While the Vatican gave no explanation why Pope Francis did not preside, he has had difficulty walking recently, and he recently told journalists he had a knee problem.

However, Pope Francis baptized and confirmed seven adults who were entering the Catholic Church. The five men and two women included an American man identified as Taylor Pescante, as well as four Italians, an Albanian and a Cuban.

At the end of his homily, Pope Francis directly addressed Ivan Federov, the elected mayor of the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, Ukraine. Federov, who was captured and later released by the Russians in a prisoner exchange, was in Rome and met earlier in the day with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.

Looking at Federov, the pope said the darkness of night also symbolizes “the darkness of war, of cruelty.”

“We are all praying. We are praying for you and with you, we are praying for so much suffering,” the pope said in Italian. “We can only give you our accompaniment, our prayer and tell you, ‘Courage,’ and accompany you. And to also tell you the greatest thing that we celebrate today,” he said, switching to Ukrainian: “Christ is risen.”

According to the Vatican press office, before the vigil, the pope also met briefly with Federov as well as with representatives of “the local government and the parliament of the country.”

The vigil, the first open to the public in three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, began in the atrium of St. Peter’s Basilica, with the blessing of the fire and lighting of the Easter candle. A deacon carried the candle into the semi-darkened basilica, lit Cardinal Re’s candle and began sharing the light with the thousands of people in the congregation.

Symbolizing Christ’s resurrection dispelling the darkness of death, little by little the basilica was filled with the light of the candles held by the estimated 5,500 people present. Seated in a white chair, the pope sat silently, holding a small lit candle.

In his homily, he reflected on the Gospel scene of the women going to Jesus’ tomb and what “they saw, they heard and they proclaimed.”

The women, he said, expected to find Jesus laid in his tomb and ready to be anointed. The empty tomb, however, not only subverts expectations but also “comes with the gift of a hope that surprises and amazes us,” though “it is not easy to welcome.”

“At times — we must admit — this hope does not find a place in our hearts. Like the women in the Gospel, we are overtaken by questions and doubts, and our first reaction before the unexpected sign is one of fear,” the pope explained.

People today, he continued, often “look at life and reality with downcast eyes” and “halt before the tomb of resignation and fatalism.” Nevertheless, Pope Francis said Jesus’ resurrection allows for all men and women to look at life through “different eyes” so that “we can make the leap from nothingness to life.”

“True, death can fill us with dread; it can paralyze us,” the pope said. “But the Lord is risen! Let us lift up our gaze, remove the veil of sadness and sorrow from our eyes, and open our hearts to the hope that God brings!”

Reflecting on the angel telling the women that Jesus was not there at the tomb, the pope said the angel’s words, “He is not here,” should be repeated often, especially when “we think we have understood everything there is to know about God” and “pigeonhole him in our own ideas and categories.”

Christians also should repeat the angel’s question to the women about why they sought the living among the dead, because it serves as a reminder that “we cannot celebrate Easter if we continue to be dead; if we remain prisoners of the past.”

Easter cannot be celebrated, he added, if “we reduce faith to a talisman, making God a lovely memory from times past, instead of encountering him today as the living God who desires to change us and to change our world.”

“A Christianity that seeks the Lord among the ruins of the past and encloses him in the tomb of habit is a Christianity without Easter,” he said.

The women proclaimed the joy of the resurrection not just “to console those who mourned the death of Jesus” but to “open hearts to the extraordinary message of God’s triumph over evil and death.”

The pope said that although they expected the disciples to “think they were mad,” the women “were not concerned for their reputation, for preserving their image; they did not contain their emotions or measure their words.”

“How beautiful is a church that can run this way through the streets of our world! Without fear, without schemes and stratagems, but solely with the desire to lead everyone to the joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis said.

“That is what we are called to do: to experience the risen Christ and to share the experience with others; to roll away the stone from the tomb where we may have enclosed the Lord, in order to spread his joy in the world,” he said.

 

“Bishop Dougherty’s passing brings to a close a rare example of priestly ministry and service so generously shared for 65 years as a priest and 27 years as a bishop. While Bishop Dougherty’s retirement was accepted a year before my appointment as Bishop of Scranton, his willingness to continue to be of service to the faithful of our Diocese never diminished throughout his almost 90 years.

“Bishop Dougherty will be remembered as a thoughtful, quiet presence in the administrative mission of the Diocese of Scranton, having tirelessly served my four predecessors as Chancellor, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop. His greatest legacy to this local Church, however, won’t be as a leader in the spotlight but as a pastor – a servant in the shadows – visiting hospitals in the middle of the night, feeding the poor, sharing the sacraments and offering hope to broken souls who looked to him for help.

“Until his final days of life, even while challenged with diminishing health, Bishop Dougherty never shrank for a moment from his priestly ministry to the People of God, regardless of the situation or circumstance. His deep respect for both the leadership of the Church and for every baptized soul was evident in his words, his demeanor and in his willingness to assume any position of service with humility and grace.

“Bishop Dougherty was one of a kind, with an unexpected dry wit that could fill your heart with laughter in an instant and a selflessness that made the greatest to the least feel at home in his presence.

“Above all else, Bishop Dougherty was a good and faithful priest who served God and the people given to his care with every fiber of his being. May God give him the rest and peace that he so richly deserves.”

 

SCRANTON – The Most Reverend John M. Dougherty, D.D., Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Scranton, died April 16, 2022, at his family’s home in Scranton.

He was born April 29, 1932, in Scranton, the son of the late Edward A. and Irene C. Kern Dougherty. He was installed as the sixth auxiliary bishop of Scranton on March 7, 1995, and served until August 31, 2009, when Pope Benedict XVI accepted his resignation two years after reaching the mandatory retirement age.

As a member of Saint Paul Parish, Scranton, Bishop Dougherty attended the parochial grade school and graduated from Saint Paul High School in June 1949. In September of the same year, Bishop Dougherty entered Saint Charles College, Catonsville, Md., where he studied for two years.

In the spring of 1951, Bishop Dougherty applied to become a seminary student for the Diocese of Scranton. He began his priestly studies on September 19, 1951, at St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore, Md. Bishop Dougherty earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Mary’s in June 1953. Three years later, he received a Master of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. Bishop Dougherty returned to further studies at St. Mary’s where he earned a Licentiate in Sacred Theology in 1957.

Bishop Dougherty was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Scranton in the Cathedral of Saint Peter, Scranton, on June 15, 1957, by Bishop Jerome D. Hannan.

On June 29, 1957, Bishop Dougherty was appointed assistant pastor of Saint Ann Parish, Tobyhanna, a community he served for more than seven years. In preparation for the opening of St. Pius X Seminary, Dalton, in September 1962, he was named Professor of Ascetical Theology by Bishop Hannan on March 28, 1962.

Bishop Dougherty was given an additional responsibility in September 1964, which brought him to his first post in the Chancery. He was appointed Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith by Bishop Hannan.

On May 19, 1968, Pope Paul VI named Bishop Dougherty a Chaplain of His Holiness with the title of Monsignor. In the same year, he was appointed Vicar for Religious by Bishop J. Carroll McCormick. Four years later, Bishop McCormick appointed him Assistant Chancellor of the Diocese. A further responsibility was placed on Bishop Dougherty when he assumed the duties of the Diocesan Pro-Life Director in February 1976.

The following year, on September 6, 1977, Bishop Dougherty was appointed Chancellor of the Diocese of Scranton by Bishop McCormick.

He was named a Prelate of Honor on November 2, 1978, by Pope John Paul II. On June 7, 1984, the day of Bishop James C. Timlin’s installation as the Eighth Bishop of Scranton, Bishop Dougherty was appointed Vicar General, Moderator of the Curia and Diocesan Consultor.

Bishop Dougherty was named pastor of Saint Patrick Parish, Scranton, on September 4, 1985. The parish community included the churches of Saint Patrick, Holy Cross, Saint John the Baptist and Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Pope John Paul II named Bishop Dougherty the Titular Bishop of Sufetula and Auxiliary to the Bishop of Scranton on February 7, 1995. His episcopal ordination took place on March 7, 1995, in the Cathedral of Saint Peter, Scranton, with Bishop James C. Timlin serving as consecrator.

At the time of his Episcopal Appointment, Cardinal John O’Connor, seventh Bishop of the Diocese of Scranton, lauded Bishop Dougherty’s wisdom, pastoral concern, deep spirituality and profound respect for every human person, saying no one was more respected or admired by the priests, deacons, religious and people of Scranton.

On June 30, 1995, Bishop Dougherty was appointed Rector of Villa Saint Joseph, Dunmore, a position he held for nearly nine years. On March 1, 2004, Bishop Joseph F. Martino gave him significant additional collaborative responsibility in the daily administration of the Diocese by naming him Vicar for Administration, a newly created central administrative post at the time.

Bishop Dougherty continued his service to the Diocese through appointments on the Council of Priests and Board of Consultors between 2005 and 2010. Even after retirement, as Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus, Bishop Dougherty served in residence at Christ the King Parish in Archbald prior to Bishop Joseph C. Bambera appointing him to serve as Administrator, pro tem, at Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Parish in Jermyn in June 2019.

Since his ordination to the priesthood in 1957 and the various pastoral, teaching and administrative positions within the Diocese, Bishop Dougherty also was a member of the American Catholic Historical Association and was elected by Catholic Distance University in Hamilton, Va., to serve on its board of trustees.

Details of funeral arrangements are pending and will be communicated once finalized. A memorial page is available on a special section of the Diocese of Scranton website at dioceseofscranton.org. This page will also have the latest information on funeral arrangements.

WASHINGTON (CNS) – In an economy hit hard by the pandemic and the lack of pilgrimages and other tourism for two years, Christians in the Holy Land “are in desperate need of support,” said an April 5 news release about the 2022 Good Friday Collection that continues to support the work of the Franciscans of the Holy Land.

The Washington-based Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America issued the release about the collection taken up at the request of the Holy Father in most parishes around the world on Good Friday, which this year is April 15.

Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory of Washington shared a video encouraging support of the collection.

“Without pilgrims for the past two years, our sisters and brothers in the Holy Land have particularly suffered,” he said in his message. “What’s at stake is not only the dwindling number of Christians in the Holy Land, but also the preservation of the very places made holy by the life, death and resurrection of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.”

He urged all Catholics to donate to the collection at their local parish church the Friday before Easter.

The collection is administered by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land and the Congregation for Eastern Churches.

The funds collected are used to pay salaries of Custody employees — including teachers; maintain Franciscan sanctuaries; support tuition subsidies at the Custody’s schools; and provide university scholarships. The funds also support projects in the Holy Land, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Turkey, Iran and Iraq.

 

Dear Friends,

Two years ago during these sacred days of Lent, Holy Week and Easter, our world turned upside down. A strange virus invaded our lives in a way that none of us had ever before experienced nor could have imagined. Life came to a standstill and even our churches closed their doors as we sought to protect one another from the virus’ deadly grip.

In the face of such obstacles, we held on desperately to our faith, confronting the message of Good Friday and the Cross of Jesus like never before. As we struggled to discover the blessings of Easter, the pain, uncertainty and fear of those days eventually gave way to the life and hope won for us through Christ’s Resurrection.

Today, as we find ourselves at last emerging from the darkness of a global pandemic, our world is still turned upside down as our brothers and sisters in Ukraine suffer the ravages of war. This time, however, the source of our global concern is not an unknown virus. The source of this war, and others like it, is an all too familiar scourge rooted in sin – in pride, envy, greed and the absence of any fear of God that has led to a blatant disrespect of human life made in the image and likeness of the same almighty being.

As we have done countless times before in the face of suffering and pain, these sacred days beckon us to turn to the only place that enables our broken world and lives to find forgiveness, healing, hope and peace: the Paschal Mystery – the Easter miracle – the promise won for us through the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus!

Pope Francis so providentially spoke to the ongoing struggles that continue to confront our world in his Easter message shared a year ago.

The Holy Father said, “In the midst of this complex reality, the Easter message speaks concisely of the event that gives us the hope that does not disappoint: ‘Jesus who was crucified has risen.’ It speaks to us not about angels or ghosts, but about a man, a man of flesh and bone, with a face and a name: Jesus. The Gospel testifies that this Jesus, crucified under Pontius Pilate for claiming he was the Christ, the Son of God, rose on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, just as he had foretold to his disciples … In so doing, Jesus took upon himself our weakness, our infirmities, even our death. He endured our sufferings and bore the weight of our sins … His wounds are the everlasting seal of his love for us. All those who experience a painful trial in body or spirit can find refuge in these wounds and, through them, receive the grace of the hope that does not disappoint.”

Brothers and sisters, for all that we have experienced throughout the journey of our lives, the grace of God, indeed, does not disappoint! And that grace abounds through the presence of the Risen Jesus dwelling in the hearts of his disciples – all of us who have been baptized into his life, death and resurrection. In countless numbers of ways, your openness to the love and mercy of God has enabled you to give hope to many – from the care that you have offered to those burdened by the pandemic, to your material support of those suffering because of the war in Ukraine, to your daily efforts to build up your parishes and to proclaim the gospel message through your words and especially your gestures of love and service.

One of the greatest signs of the grace of God at work in our world is the presence of those who have responded to the Lord’s call and opened their hearts to the life giving waters of Baptism and a determination to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. On Holy Saturday night, 107 catechumens and candidates from throughout the Diocese of Scranton will be baptized into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and presented for full communion in the Catholic Church. These catechumens and candidates – our relatives, neighbors and friends – join with tens of thousands of catechumens and candidates from around the world to publically profess their faith in Jesus Christ and to assume their place in his body, the Church. Their lives and faith affirm the reality of the living God continually working in and through his sons and daughters.

During this Holy Week, I pray that we will all come to appreciate more deeply than ever the fact that we are indeed blessed in more ways than we might believe or imagine. May we trust in God’s promise to sustain us and dispel our deepest fears. And may we open our hearts to the risen Jesus and allow him to fill them with his love and peace.

This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad!

Faithfully yours in the Risen Christ,

Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L.
Bishop of Scranton

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In the life of every Christian, but especially of priests, God’s love and forgiveness are the greatest rewards, and any attempt to seek one’s own glory plays into the hands of the devil, Pope Francis said.

With some 1,800 priests concelebrating and renewing the promises made at their ordinations, Pope Francis celebrated the chrism Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica April 14.

“There is no recompense greater than friendship with Jesus,” the pope told them. “There is no peace greater than his forgiveness. There is no greater price than his precious blood, and we must not allow it to be devalued by unworthy conduct.”

The chrism Mass was canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and ongoing restrictions in 2021 meant that only 75 priests from the Diocese of Rome could represent all their brothers at the Mass with their bishop, the pope.

Although masks are still required for most people while indoors in Italy and at the Vatican, Pope Francis’ 2022 Holy Week and Easter services were again open to the public. The Vatican said about 2,500 laity joined the pope, cardinals, bishops and priests for the chrism Mass.

Still having difficulty walking, Pope Francis processed to the main altar from the back of the basilica rather than walking the entire length of the church, and he delivered his homily while seated.

Cardinals Mauro Gambetti, the pope’s vicar for Vatican City, Angelo De Donatis, his vicar for Rome, Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, and Leonardo Sandri, vice dean, were the principal concelebrants at the morning chrism Mass, which is named for the oils blessed during the liturgy.

After the homily and the renewal of priestly promises, deacons wheeled massive silver urns up the center aisle of the basilica to the pope for his blessing. The oils will be distributed to Rome parishes and used for the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, ordination and the anointing of the sick in the coming year.

While thousands of laypeople attended the Mass, Pope Francis’ homily was addressed to the priests, including himself and the cardinals and bishops present.

“Being priests, dear brothers, is a grace, a very great grace, yet it is not primarily a grace for us, but for our people,” he told them.

“The Lord is inviting us to be faithful to him, to be faithful to his covenant and to let ourselves be loved and forgiven by him,” he said. “They are invitations addressed to us, so that in this way we can serve, with a clear conscience, the holy and faithful people of God.”

Pope Francis suggested that at the end of each day, “we do well to gaze upon the Lord, and to let him gaze upon our hearts and the hearts of all those whom we have encountered.”

That “examen,” he said, is not meant to be “an accounting of our sins,” but an act of contemplation by which “we review our day with the eyes of Jesus, seeing its graces and gifts and giving thanks for all that he has done for us.”

Obviously, he said, sins and temptations also will show themselves, and recognizing them is the only way to reject them.

Pope Francis pointed particularly to the temptation of the “idols” of spiritual worldliness, exaggerated pragmatism and functionalism, all of which are really about “glorifying ourselves” and not God, he said.

“We need to remember that the devil demands that we do his will and that we serve him, but he does not always ask us to serve him and worship him constantly,” the pope said. “Receiving our worship from time to time is enough for him to prove that he is our real master and that he can feel like a god in our life and in our heart.”

“Seeking our own glory robs us of the presence of Jesus, humble and humiliated, the Lord who draws near to everyone, the Christ who suffers with all who suffer, who is worshipped by our people, who know who his true friends are,” Pope Francis said. “A worldly priest is nothing more than a clericalized pagan.”

Another “hidden idolatry,” he said, is devotion to numbers or statistics, which “can depersonalize every discussion and appeal to the majority as the definitive criterion for discernment.”

But “this cannot be the sole method or criterion for the church of Christ,” he said. “Persons cannot be ‘numbered,’ and God does not ‘measure out’ his gift of the Spirit.”

With functionalism, he said, mystery is ignored, and efficiency becomes the measure for everything.

“The priest with a functionalist mindset has his own nourishment, which is his ego,” he said. “In functionalism, we set aside the worship of the Father in the small and great matters of our life and take pleasure in the efficiency of our own programs.”

SCRANTON — Great rejoicing marked the Solemn Pontifical Chrism Mass on Tuesday of Holy Week on April 12 in the Cathedral of Saint Peter as the celebration returned to its rightful grandeur for the first time in three years due to the global pandemic.

Sincere joy resonated in the voice of Bishop Joseph C. Bambera, who served as principal celebrant and homilist, as he welcomed those in attendance to the “glorious Mass of the Chrism,” in which he joined his brother priests in renewing their sacred vows of ordination in ministry to the people of the Diocese of Scranton.

The annual gathering of the priests of the Diocese — customarily the largest of its kind each year — celebrates their brotherhood and shared divine vocation, usually before a full Cathedral congregation.

Not since 2019 had Saint Peter’s witnessed the normalcy of the ancient traditional rite, which was adapted greatly due to COVID-19, including last year’s Chrism Mass when the diocesan priests were the only ones in attendance and compelled to practice social distancing.

This year, the throng of vested concelebrants, composed of nearly all the ordained priests ministering in the Diocese, occupied the front pews of the venerable Cathedral with a large congregation of lay faithful seated behind, nearing filling most pews of the Mother Church of Scranton.

Holding to age-old tradition, the Holy Oils used during the conferral of sacraments throughout the Church year were blessed. They include the Sacred Chrism, the Oil of the Sick, and the Oil of Catechumens, which are used in the celebration of Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders, the Anointing of the Sick, and the Rites of the Catechumenate. During the Mass, priests and deacons, along with lay representatives from Diocesan parishes acknowledged the Bishop’s role as the unifying symbol for Church governance and pastoral guidance.

“It has been a long time since we’ve had the opportunity to gather for this Chrism Mass as we do today, with all of us — priests, deacons, those in consecrated life and lay faithful — offering a powerful witness to our world of the abiding presence of God that alone is capable of overcoming the darkness of suffering and death with the life and hope of Christ,” Bishop Bambera began his homily. “Like so many, we have endured more than we could have ever imagined and are here today solely by the grace of God.”

Referring to the Gospel from Saint Luke which was proclaimed at the Mass, in which the prophet Isaiah defines the character of Jesus’ ministry, Bishop Bambera recounted how Jesus announces good news to those who are poor, blind, in captivity and oppressed.

“The very prophetic vision of hope that he proclaims for all who are burdened and oppressed becomes a reality precisely because of his own experience of suffering and pain in his times,” he said. “My friends, and especially my brother priests, I implore you: do not let the darkness of these challenging days prevail! Our hope and peace is found in the very midst of the lives that we lead and the compassion and mercy that we extend to our suffering brothers and sisters and that they, in turn, impart to us.”

The Bishop continued by asking the priests to consider the hope that they bring to the lives they are blessed to encounter each day.

“In addition to sharing the sacramental life of our Church so generously, your presence in and among the lives of our people is far more deeply appreciated than you might ever believe or imagine,” Bishop Bambera stated, noting he is always impressed and buoyed by comments made to him by faithful throughout the diocese on his many travels regarding their parish priests.

Comments, Bishop Bambera related, that speak so much about parishioners’ admiration, love and even concern for their local shepherds.

“My brother priests, thank you for your ministry. Thank you for your service and for the witness of your faith,” the Bishop offered. “For all of the hope that you have given, the love that you have shared and the faith in Christ that you have imparted, even while struggling to carry your own crosses, your lives and your ministry are by far the most eloquent homily that can be shared this day.”

Prior to the Mass, Monsignor Michael Delaney, pastor of Our Lady of the Snows Parish in Clarks Summit, aptly summed up the overall enthusiasm shared by his fellow priests upon the opportunity to once again come together as a fraternity for the auspicious occasion.

“It is so wonderful to gather around the table of the Lord and then be able to gather for a dinner together in brotherhood and celebrate our call as priests in ministering to God’s people,” Monsignor Delaney expressed.

Commenting on the joyful reunion of his priest brethren after such a notable absence, Monsignor Joseph Quinn, pastor of the South Scranton parishes of Saint John Neumann and Saint Paul of the Cross, remarked, “It has been the longest retreat I’ve ever been on. Hopefully, it has created us all for the better.”

 

CRESCO – After two decades of dreaming and planning, the finishing touches are finally being put on a new worship space for Most Holy Trinity Parish in Monroe County.

In anticipation of completing work on the new church in the coming weeks, The Catholic Light was invited to highlight the renovation project in its final days. An opening Mass is currently being planned for May.

The new worship space for Most Holy Trinity is located in the former gymnasium/auditorium of the now-closed Monsignor McHugh School located on Route 390 in Cresco.

“It is overwhelming beautiful,” parishioner Cheryl Lynott of Paradise Township said.

Lynott is a 1977 graduate of Pocono Central Catholic High School, which used the same building. She is one of several parishioners who not only serves on the parish’s building and grounds committee – but also has invested countless hours into the building project.

“Our volunteers are the most talented group of people you would ever hope to find,” she explained. “It is a blessing to be part of building this church. I really look at it that way.”

Sordoni Construction is handling all of the renovations inside the former gym, but parishioners volunteered to create everything else the parish needs. That includes the confessionals, bathrooms, office space and more on the exterior of the gym.

“I just do whatever needs to be done,” parishioner Walt Dill of Blakeslee explained. “Normally I’m here six to eight hours a day, five days a week and then I’m here on Saturdays and on Sundays if I’m needed.”

Michael Ziobro of Canadensis retired from his full-time job in 2020. Since that time, participating in the church construction project has taken up the bulk of his days.

“It is a labor of love. We’re here every day,” Ziobro explained. “We can’t wait for opening day.”

Most Holy Trinity Parish was created upon the consolidation of Saint Ann Parish, Tobyhanna; Saint Mary of the Mount Parish, Mount Pocono; and Saint Bernadette Parish, Canadensis.

The new worship space brings together many aspects of those three churches. For example, the pews in the new church all come from the former Saint Mary and Saint Ann church buildings. Likewise, the Stations of the Cross and the stained glass windows from the former parishes have also been included in the new construction.

“To see all the little bits of all the different churches in here, it’s wonderful,” Ziobro said.  “I went to Saint Mary’s all the time, so it’s nice to see those windows and to see the Stations of the Cross and see some of the pews going in.”

In actuality, several other churches/chapels will be represented when the opening Mass takes place. In addition to the three closed churches, items from the former Villa of Our Lady Retreat Center, Our Lady of Fatima Church in the Promised Land area, Saint Joan of Arc, a mission church of Saint Mary’s in Pocono Summit, Monsignor McHugh School and the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Scranton are also being included.

“It was just nice to see everything come together,” Noah Stretch, Project Superintendent of Sordoni Construction, said.

Stretch and his employees have been working on-site since September 2021. They battled not only the COVID-19 pandemic but supply issues.

“Somehow we made it work,” he explained. “We had a good crew that right out of the gate, they were ordering everything early. We had professionals here and they knew that they had to get everything ordered so we could be ready in time.”

Stretch credits not only his team, but also the dedication of the parishioners to get this project to the finish line.

“You can tell that their heart is into it. They are building with you. We don’t see it like this too often. It was really nice to see,” he explained.

The desire to create a new worship space for Most Holy Trinity Parish dates back to the pastoral tenure of Monsignor Arthur J. Kaschenbach and now-Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz. Between raising money, finding a location, and changing plans several times, it has not been an easy road.

“There were like 27 plans,” Ziobro said jokingly. “When the school closed, it focused us down to one plan. We had already been here for eight or ten years in the gymnasium with folding chairs. You’d take them down on the weekend because the school was still open.”

“I always saw the finish line. I always knew that it would come about, maybe not necessarily in this form, but I always saw the finish line. There was never any doubt in my mind that it would get done,” Dill added.

Lynott says parishioners are eager to see the finished worship space. There will even be coffee bar named ‘Trinity Treats’ in the narthex area of the new worship space.

She believes the typical reaction will be something like the following.

“I can sum it up by the response of my partner in the Capital Campaign. We have been doing the deposits for three years and she had not seen it so I snuck her in. She started to cry,” Lynott said.