today - Missionaries of the Precious Blood

SPRING 2011
CPPS
T
O
D
A
Y
MISSIONARIES OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD
a long-distance Call
C.PP.S. CandidateS travel the globe to Follow JeSuS
In this issue of
C.PP.S. Today
Read the story of
these C.PP.S. candidates on page 3.
Photos by
Fr. Joe
Bathke,
C.PP.S., and
Juan Acuña
González,
C.PP.S.
Page 2: Living and Learning Far
From Home
Our Missionaries have a long tradition
of leaving home to serve others. Between
the Lines by Fr. Larry Hemmelgarn,
provincial director of the Cincinnati
Province.
Page 3: A Long-Distance Call
C.PP.S. candidates follow their calling,
even if that means traveling halfway
around the world.
Page 11: Drawing the Faithful
into Lent
The Sorrowful Mother Shrine in
Bellevue, Ohio, offers special programs
that bring meaning to this holy season.
Page 15: Get Your Hands Dirty
A call to ministry means walking toward other people’s pain. Call
and Answer by Fr. Vince Wirtner, C.PP.S., director of vocation
ministry.
Page 16: Chapter and Verse
News about C.PP.S. people and places.
Page 17: Guilty Until Proven Innocent
It’s hard to prove that no crime has been committed. At Our House
by Jean Giesige, editor of C.PP.S. Today.
SPRING 2011
C.PP.S. Today is published by the MISSIONARIES OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD,
Cincinnati Province, 431 E. Second St., Dayton, OH 45402
937-228-9263 mission@cpps-preciousblood.org
Visit our website, www.cpps-preciousblood.org
On Facebook:
www.facebook.com/Missionaries-of-the-Precious-Blood-Cincinnati-Province
1
Living and Learning Far From Home
F
r. Ted, Ross, SJ, who presented a retreat to our Community a number of years ago, told us that he gets up each morning, looks in
the mirror and says, “Okay, God, what are we going to get into
today?” I try to do the same. When I need to travel for the province I
can feel myself on a trajectory that starts out “Okay, God, there is going
to be lots to get into today,” but after a number of days I long to go
home, sleep in my own bed, and play with my dog, Paco, who is
always glad to see me.
Imagine a trip to a faraway country that goes on for years. This is a
reality for several of our C.PP.S. candidates who have come to this
country to study advanced theology and to learn more about another
culture. They are featured in our cover story. Those of us who struggle
with a bus schedule or restaurant menu in another country really have
to sympathize with someone who has to tackle theological texts in
another language. I commend them for their openness and their willingness to learn.
In Luke 10, Jesus sends forth 72 of his disciples. He tells them, “Go!
I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or
bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.” I think that he
must have known how they felt. Jesus was the ultimate missionary,
who left his home in heaven to minister among the people of God here
on earth. Did he long for the familiar sights and sounds of his home in
heaven during his 33-year journey with us?
Like those original disciples, Jesus directs us to go forth from where
we are comfortable and to explore new territories with his Word in our
hearts. For most of us, that probably does not mean a new continent as
much as a new context. We can always find new ways to reach out to
others.
That’s what is happening at the Sorrowful Mother Shrine in
Bellevue, Ohio, which is sponsored by the C.PP.S.
Between
During Lent and all year, the Missionaries who staff
the Lines
the shrine schedule special programming meant to
draw people closer to Jesus. The shrine is not a parish.
by Fr. Larry
But because they minister to anyone who comes
Hemmelgarn,
down their lane, their parish is the world, points out
C.PP.S.
the shrine director, Fr. Yuri Kuzara, C.PP.S. You can
read more about the shrine in this issue.
Whether we’re walking out our own front door or a
thousand miles from home, we are on a missionary
road. We are called to spread the Good News and to
help others on their journey. May God bless us
all as we continue on the path to our true
home.
2
a long-distance Call
C.PP.S. CandidateS travel the globe to Follow JeSuS
by Jean giesige
Y
oung men who are entering
into discernment as a priest or
brother with the Missionaries of
the Precious Blood are
encouraged to listen to God’s
voice in their lives but
discouraged from looking for
miraculous signs. The decision
should be made more with
thought and prayer, and less with
3
the expectation of thunderbolts
from heaven.
Yet signs do appear. Take the
story of Juan Acuña González
and the elevator. But more about
that later.
First of all, you have to know
that when God places a call, it’s
not always local. From its
beginning in 1815 the
Congregation has been one of
Missionaries, and to be a
missionary means movement. St.
Gaspar del Bufalo, the
Missionaries’ founder, traveled
up and down the Italian
countryside preaching in rural
villages that were far different
from Rome, where he was born.
Fr. Francis de Sales Brunner
brought the Missionaries to the
United States in 1844, leaving
behind his native Switzerland for
the rough-and-tumble Ohio
frontier. Others have followed in
their spiritual footsteps, leaving
their homes to establish C.PP.S.
missions in Chile, Peru,
Guatemala, Colombia and other
countries around the globe.
Jesus told his disciples, “there
is no one who has given up house
or brothers or sisters or mother or
father or children or lands for my
sake and the sake of the Gospel
who will not receive a hundred
times more now in this present
age” (Mark 10: 29). But even with
such a promise, it’s not so easy to
leave a home, brothers and
sisters, mother and father.
That passage speaks to Juan,
who was willing to give
everything up, three times over,
to follow Jesus. But it wasn’t until
he traveled thousands of miles
from home that he found what he
was looking for.
“Go To College”
Juan grew up with the
Missionaries of the Precious
Blood, who were in ministry in
his home parish in Santiago,
Chile. They administered San
Gaspar School, which he
attended as a boy. He was close to
the priests at the school,
including Missionaries of the
Precious Blood Fr. Larry Eiting,
Fr. Barry Fischer and Fr. Tom
Hemm, who inspired him, and
when he told his family after
graduation that he wanted to join
the Missionaries, no one was
surprised.
But the Missionaries told him
that he needed more life
experiences. Go to college, they
said, and see more of the world.
Juan, who has the brain of a
scientist and the heart of a social
worker, went to college. “I always
had an aptitude for science,” he
said. “Math and computer
courses were easy for me.”
He earned a degree in civil
4
engineering and landed a good
job. But he stayed connected with
his school, his parish and the
Missionaries. He went with them
on mission trips and to World
Youth Day in Rome. There, the
moderator general of the
Congregation, Fr. Barry Fischer,
who had known Juan his whole
life, asked him to stay and work
on the Congregation’s website.
“In Rome I met the C.PP.S.
loved his family, it was
frustrating for Juan to be
traveling in reverse of the Gospel
message in Mark 10. “I tried to
do everything on my part to
become a Missionary, but
something always got in the
way,” he said. “I thought, ‘Maybe
it’s not for me.’”
With the family’s
construction firm on solid
ground, Juan took a job with the
Chilean
government.
He
enjoyed his
i thought,
work and was
good at it, but
‘Maybe it’s
he still kept in
not for me.’
touch with the
Juan acuña C.PP.S. When
gonzález
he was invited
to the United
States to attend
brothers for the first time. The
a symposium on the vocation of
vocation of brother made sense to
C.PP.S. brothers in 2006, it was
me,” Juan said. “I considered
“the tipping point” for him.
myself in discernment for the
“I went back to Chile with all
vocation of brother.”
these feelings, but I didn’t know
As he was learning more
what to do with them. I felt
about the Congregation, he got
called to be a brother, but there
news from his family in Chile that
were no C.PP.S. brothers in Chile.
his father was ill. “I had to put
If I wanted to be a brother, I
everything on standby,” he said.
would have to go to the U.S. It
“I had to take care of my family.”
was one thing to join the
He returned to Chile and
Community, but another thing to
helped his brother in the family
leave your home. It was a hard
business, a construction firm
choice,” he said.
founded by his father, who died
He prayed “a lot,” he said.
the following year. As much as he
And in July 2007, he quit his job
“
“
5
City Province established a
mission in 2006, made him a tiny,
tiny fraction of the seven percent.
“When I first heard the name
of the Congregation, I thought, ‘I
don’t want anything to do with
that. It sounds very strange,’”
Peter said. Yet the more he
learned about the Missionaries,
the more he was drawn to their
way of life.
and began to dispose of most of
his earthly possessions. “I sold or
gave away almost all my stuff. I
emptied my apartment. It was a
good spiritual exercise for me,”
he said.
With his laptop, his guitar
and two suitcases of clothing, he
set out for the United States to
join a religious formation
program to become a C.PP.S.
brother. The easy part was over.
Peter
studied
Korean
though
he knew
he had
another
calling.
A Similar Path
While Juan was wrestling
with his future in Chile, three
men he did not know—and who
did not know each other—were
on a similar path a half a world
away in Vietnam. Peter Huang
Minh had moved to Ho Chi Minh
City (formerly Saigon) from his
home in the Vietnamese
countryside after he graduated
from high school. Although he
had studied the Korean language
and culture at the university in
the hopes that it would make
him more employable, he knew
deep down that he had a calling
to the priesthood.
Being a Catholic made him
something of an anomaly in
Vietnam, where Catholics make
up only seven percent of the
population. And being a
Missionary of the Precious Blood
in Vietnam, where the Kansas
Like Peter, John Vianney Loi
Huu Nguyen knew that he
wanted to be a priest. His family
had been uprooted by war and
revolution. John had attended
classes in a diocesan seminary,
“but I had to do it quietly
because the government
confiscated the property of a lot
of religious communities in those
days,” he said.
Long before he finished his
studies for the priesthood, he
6
was forced to change course. He
went to the university to study
English and acupuncture, seeing
it as a way to help the poor. He
threw himself into ministry at his
parish, where the pastors were
Franciscans. Still, he felt the call
to the priesthood. “It’s a long
journey of faith,” he said. “If you
don’t believe very strongly, you
can’t go on.”
When a friend introduced
him to the C.PP.S., he thought he
found the home he had been
seeking. “C.PP.S. members work
with the poor and the
marginalized,” he said. “They
work for justice and peace.
Sometimes I ask myself, ‘Why
didn’t you just join the
Franciscans?’ But God wanted
me to do something for the
people of my country in the spirit
of the C.PP.S.”
Joseph Vu Minh Truc had also
studied theology with another
religious congregation. He was
also very involved in parish
ministry, teaching religious
education courses to high school
students. He wondered where
God was leading him, until he
met the Missionaries. “The
spirituality of St. Gaspar was
very good for me, because I
wanted to do something new. I
want to heal broken relationships
in society and among families,”
he said.
Like the others, he had an
inkling that if he continued
religious formation with the
C.PP.S., he would have to leave
Vietnam to do so. “We needed to
complete a higher course of study
in theology, and there was only
one way to do that: go to the
United States,” he said.
And that’s how three men
who did not know each other and
had never heard of the
Missionaries of the Precious
“ god wanted me
to do something
for the people of my country in the spirit of the C.PP.S.
“
John vianney
loi huu nguyen
7
Blood until far into their
adulthood found themselves
living together in a C.PP.S. house
in Chicago, in the winter of the
Great Blizzard of 2011.
made significant strides,” Fr.
Bathke said.
They learned their way
around Chicago fairly easily, as
they had to get from Gaspar
House to their classes at DePaul
University every day. They
found Chicago’s public transit
system rather easy to navigate,
compared to the full-on noisy
chaos of Ho Chi Minh City,
which is larger than Chicago.
Food in the U.S. is strange,
Learning Curve
There is a chartable curve
when one finds oneself in a
foreign country, psychologists
say. First, the visitor feels
fascination and delight at all the
new sights and sounds. All the
senses are engaged. Then, the
human system is overloaded
with all the new stimuli, and it
experiences something of a
shutdown. Reality sets in that
this is not home, and that
perhaps a terrible mistake has
been made. While most people
slowly begin to adapt to their
new surroundings, it takes a long
time to reach an even keel.
The men from Vietnam, who
arrived in the U.S. in September,
are doing amazingly well at
adapting to their new
surroundings, said Fr. Joe Bathke,
C.PP.S., the director of initial
formation who mentors them at
Gaspar House, the Congregation’s house for initial
formation in Chicago. Their first
order of business was to improve
their English so that they could
enroll in advanced theology
courses, and “each of them has
“
i want to heal broken
relationships in society and among families.
“
Joseph vu Minh truc
they said. For Americans the
default flavor choice is sweet, as
opposed to very spicy or savory
in Vietnam. Food combinations
here can be jarring. “In Vietnam,
we would never mix milk
8
American humor. “What people
find funny here might not be
funny at home,” he said. “There’s
no manual for that. You have to
experiment and be around
people to learn it.”
Not that the serious stuff is
easy. Advanced theological
courses are very difficult, even
more so when taught in a second
language. “I made up my mind
that I was going to do my best,”
Juan said. “And so when I passed
my courses with A’s, I was a little
impressed with myself. You go
from being at the very bottom of
the class to some level of
understanding. Every little
victory gives you more
confidence.”
products with rice, or tomatoes
with rice,” John said. They also
douse most dishes with a helping
of hot sauce, which is always
present on the table at Gaspar
House.
Food is a minor concern
compared to the culture, which is
often bafflingly opaque. Juan
Acuña can relate to that. “Some
of the things they are feeling
upon coming to the U.S., I felt
too,” he said. “Your prayer is,
‘God, help me understand. Help
me communicate.’ Because one of
the first things you struggle with
is the language. You try to get
your message across, but in the
end you find yourself praying,
‘God, help me!’”
The Congregation takes steps
to make its international
candidates feel at home. When
Juan came to the U.S., his
formators made sure the DVD
players at Gaspar House would
work with DVDs manufactured
in Chile. Everyone at the house
tried Chilean dishes and listened
to Chilean music. For the men
from Vietnam, Fr. Bathke has
found a doctor in Chicago who
speaks Vietnamese, and also a
Vietnamese spiritual director.
Still, things that a native takes
for granted can seem so strange
to someone new to the culture.
Juan said one of the hardest
things for him to learn was
Juan and the Elevator
What also gives them
confidence is the conviction that
they are on a path that God has
set. “Everything is rooted in my
prayer life,” said Juan, who was
temporarily incorporated into the
C.PP.S. last August, in a
ceremony that his mother was
able to attend. “I chose this path,
this life, and that implies
surrender to God. I left my home
and my family, but I left with a
sense of trust. At the center of
everything I do is the conviction
that God has asked me to do this,
so God will help me through.”
9
And that brings us back to
Juan and the elevator story,
which involves a sign. It
happened as he was making his
decision about his third try to
join the Missionaries, while he
was still at work in the
government agency in Santiago.
“I was at work one day, on
the seventh floor, waiting for the
elevator. Another guy from a
different floor stepped out of the
elevator and he asked me, ‘Juan,
do you know where I can find Fr.
Larry Eiting Street?’ He had been
invited to some celebration on
that street. Now, this is a street in
front of one of our Precious
Blood parishes, and it is about
one block long.
“In the whole big city of
Santiago, I found it so weird that
this guy was asking me about Fr.
Larry Eiting Street. ‘Yeah, I know
the street,’ I said, and I gave him
directions. And for me, that was
a sign: Fr. Larry Eiting
was saying, ‘Stop
thinking about it, and
just do it.’”
Crossing borders to a Call
There are other C.PP.S. candidates who have crossed
borders to pursue their calling. Candidates from Central
America who reach advanced formation routinely study
theology while living in a C.PP.S. house in
Bogotá, Colombia.
The C.PP.S. vicariate in Chile has a new
deacon. Danilo Sacchetti, C.PP.S., was born in
Sonnino, Italy, where the Congregation’s founder,
St. Gaspar del Bufalo, once preached and is still a
popular and beloved saint. Danilo knew he
wanted to be a Missionary of the Precious
Deacon
Blood—but he didn’t know where, until the
Sacchetti
Congregation’s Italian Province sent him on a
visit to the C.PP.S. in Chile. There, Danilo felt at home, and
asked permission to stay and continue his formation as a priest
in Santiago.
On January 29, he was ordained a deacon at Precious Blood
Church in Valdivia, Chile. He is now in ministry at San Gaspar
School in Santiago.
10
DRAWING
THE
FAITHFUL
INTO
LENT
Chapel dome, Sorrowful Mother Shrine
The Sorrowful Mother Shrine offers spiritual
opportunities during this holy season.
T
he season of Lent builds slowly
toward Holy Week. It’s a sixweek journey of faith that calls
believers to new levels of
intimacy with God. The
challenge, says Fr. Yuri Kuzara,
C.PP.S., is to keep going on the
journey.
“When we think about the
passion of Christ, it’s not a
dead-end thing,” Fr. Kuzara
said. “If all we know about Lent
ends with the passion and the
suffering of Christ, then the
whole meaning of Lent is lost.”
Fr. Kuzara sees people
journeying through suffering
toward hope and redemption all
year round in his ministry as
director of the Sorrowful Mother
Shrine in Bellevue, Ohio. But in
Lent, the shrine, which is
sponsored and staffed by the
Missionaries of the Precious Blood,
makes an extra effort to welcome
people into God’s embrace.
Each Lent the shrine offers
many special programs to enrich
the Lenten experiences of its
visitors. This year, that included
11
Eucharistic adoration; stations of
the cross each Friday; and the
sacrament of reconciliation every
Tuesday evening.
There were also opportunities
for people to gather and talk
about their faith and their own
Lenten observance. Back by
popular demand this year was
movie night with a mystery
saint. Each Sunday evening, the
shrine staff showed a movie
about a saint (including Two
Suitcases, the story of Josephine
Bakhita, the first saint of the
Sudan; Divine Mercy: No Escape,
the story of St. Maria Faustina,
narrated by Helen Hayes; and a
documentary about St. Gaspar
del Bufalo, the founder of the
Missionaries of the Precious
Blood, produced for EWTN).
The public was invited to a
potluck dinner in the shrine’s
cafeteria, where everyone
watched the movie then shared a
meal. A member of the shrine
staff led a brief presentation, and
then opened the floor for
discussion. It was a cozy night of
fellowship, said Fr. Kuzara. “It
helps us get to know the people,
and helps people get to know us
too,” he said.
It can be more difficult for the
shrine staff to know its neighbors
than for Missionaries who are in
parish ministry. “We are not a
parish, and that makes our
apostolate very different,” Fr.
Kuzara said. “We don’t have any
parishioners. Our mission is to
serve anyone who comes to the
shrine. We can say that our
parish is the whole world.”
With that in mind, the shrine
staff offers programming aimed
at various groups within the
larger Church. It hosts many
confirmation retreats for young
people, and this Lent sponsored
a day of reflection for married
couples, presented by Fr. Harry
Brown, C.PP.S., of the shrine
staff, who is very active with the
Marriage Encounter movement.
In its busy summer season,
the shrine is thronged with
pilgrims who walk its wooded
paths and picnic alongside its
many grottos. But in the late
winter and early spring weeks of
Lent, the shrine is a different
place. When the weather permits,
Fr. Kuzara said he often sees
people walking along the
outdoor stations of the cross,
newly restored just last summer.
Pilgrims might catch a glimpse of
the wildlife at the shrine, which
includes a flock of wild turkeys
that seems to grow every year.
“People walk around with
their children or babies in
strollers. They use it as a park
where they can stop and pray a
while,” he said. “It’s also
amazing how many people come
here who are not Catholic. They
are drawn by the peace and
12
the shrine are the same as at any
parish, except that there are no
baptisms during the Easter Vigil.
“We build a big bonfire outside
our chapel for the vigil,” said Fr.
Kuzara, using the firewood from
the shrine grounds that is never
in short supply. With the many
worshipers who come to the
shrine to celebrate the Easter
liturgy, the staff always considers
using its expansive outdoor
chapel, if the capricious April
weather would permit it.
At the Easter vigil and again
on Easter morning, the
Missionaries celebrate with their
pilgrims another joyful end to
Lent—though Fr. Kuzara said he
hopes something of Lent stays
with them.
“What I’d like the people to
gain from Lent is to really
understand that the Christ we
believe in truly loves them.
Christ is filled with love and
mercy for all of us,” he said. “I
really think we don’t give Christ
enough credit. He understands
us better than we understand
ourselves. If people can walk
away from Lent with a
realization of how good God is
and how much love he
has for us, then they are
truly growing in
holiness.”
(To learn more about
the Sorrowful Mother Shrine, visit
www.sorrowfulmothershrine.com)
serenity of the place.”
As the end of Lent
approaches, the shrine staff
prepares for Holy Week. They
cover the statues in the chapel, all
but the crucifix and the statue of
Our Lady of Sorrows. “That
brings a solemnity to what’s
We are not a parish,
and that makes our
apostolate very
different. Our mission
is to serve
anyone
who
comes to
the shrine.
We can say that our
parish is the whole
world.
Fr. Yuri Kuzara
going on,” said Fr. Kuzara.
“We want people to focus on
the passion of Christ. During
Holy Week, we turn our hearts to
a true sense of penance and a
true acceptance of the grace of
ongoing conversion.”
The liturgies of Holy Week at
13
mission
&
Become
mina member of our
istry
society
Missionary
Hearts
MISSION
AND
M I N I S T RY
SOCIETY
Members of our major gift society help ensure that the
missions and ministries of the Missionaries of the
Precious Blood remain strong and true to God’s call.
Annual gifts will be used to educate and train new
priests and brothers; support our retired members; and
increase an endowment for our foreign missions.
Annual levels of membership
St. Gaspar del Bufalo
Venerable Giovanni Merlini
Fr. Francis de Sales Brunner
Fr. John Wilson
Br. Bernie Barga
An Annual Gift of $10,000 or more
An Annual Gift of $5,000 to $9,999
An Annual Gift of $2,500 to $4,999
An Annual Gift of $1,000 to $2,499
An Annual Gift of $500 to $999
To learn more call the Missionaries’ office of
mission advancement, 937-228-9263.
14
Get Your Hands Dirty
L
ike a lot of the priests being ordained today, I had not thought of
religious life as my first career choice. I was working as a nurse in
the emergency room at St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Wayne. It was
exhilarating, rewarding and challenging work. But I kept noticing other
people in my workplace who made me wonder if there was something
more I should be doing with my life.
They were Missionaries of the Precious Blood who served as chaplains at the hospital. I could tell by watching them work that there was
something different about them, and I wanted to know more about
them. I wanted to know what drove them to be willing to sit down
with a grieving family when I saw other chaplains shy away. Why did
they walk into a trauma room to take the time to talk to those of us on
the staff? They ministered to the staff as well as to the patients.
The main thing I noticed about them was that they were willing to
get in the trenches, get dirty, get bloody. I wanted to be a part of that.
To this day when I think about ministry, I see it as willingness to walk
toward the pain that people are feeling, to sit with people and listen to
their stories. I am willing to get my hands dirty.
To leave a career in medicine for an uncertain future because of a
calling from God that I thought I heard required a real leap of faith. I
asked a lot of questions. My main question was, “How do I know for
sure?” One thing that helped was to hear other people’s stories. I can
remember a visit from Fr. Ken Schroeder, C.PP.S., a former army
chaplain, parish pastor and all-around great guy. Fr. Ken said he went
to Brunnerdale, our high school seminary, with a friend because the
friend wanted to be a priest. The friend left, and Fr.
Ken stayed. It’s funny to hear him tell it. His face lights
Call and
up and everybody gets to laughing at the wonderful
Answer by
absurdity of the story of the kid who stayed and
Fr. Vince
became a priest.
Wirtner,
I often meet young people who are wondering
C.PP.S.
what they are meant to be, who think they may hear a
whispering voice calling them to something completely
different. I tell them to listen, really listen. Take the risk
to ask people questions about their lives. Listen to their
stories to see if there is a common thread with
your story. See if their example lights the path
that you are to walk. And don’t be afraid to get
your hands bloody along the way.
15
C•H•A•P•T•E•R and V•E•R•S•E
Retreats on Campus: The campus ministry team at Saint Joseph’s
College, which is sponsored by the Missionaries of the Precious Blood,
manages to draw many SJC students into its efforts. College students
recently led confirmation retreats for students from high schools near
Rensselaer, Ind., where the college is located.
High school students appreciate
hearing stories about the faith lives
of college students. “They
understand us,” said one high
school student. “They’ve
experienced it (high school)
themselves within the last four
years, so it’s fresh to them.”
The college hosts many retreats
for its own students, and recently
welcomed youth from inner city
Chicago for a retreat coordinated
by the Precious Blood Ministry of
Saint Joseph’s College student
Reconciliation.
John Smetana speaks to
The SJC ministry team includes
students at a confirmation
Br. Tim Hemm, C.PP.S.; Fr. Jeffrey
retreat.
Kirch, C.PP.S.; and Fr. Kevin Scalf,
(Photo by Br. Tim Hemm, C.PP.S.)
C.PP.S.
The Gift of Peace: Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation to ban the
death penalty in that state on March 9, but not before more than two
months of what the Chicago Sun-Times called “intense personal
deliberation.”
Gov. Quinn told the Chicago Sun-Times that he had turned to the
Bible and to Cardinal Joseph Bernardin’s The Gift of Peace, during his
deliberations over whether to sign the death penalty ban that had been
passed by the Illinois legislature in January.
The co-author of The Gift of Peace is Fr. Alphonse Spilly, C.PP.S., who
for 12 years served as Cardinal Bernardin’s assistant. Fr. Spilly told the
Sun-Times he was overwhelmed by the thought that the book
influenced the governor. “Cardinal Bernardin is still touching people’s
lives in such a powerful way.”
Fr. Spilly is an associate professor of religious studies and
holds the Missionaries of the Precious Blood chair in social
justice at Calumet College of St. Joseph in Whiting, Ind.
16
Guilty Until Proven Innocent
T
he dog and I were walking one afternoon in March. It was late
enough in the winter season that things had started to stir, including
the squirrels, and when one ran right under her nose she chased it
up a nearby tree. She danced around the base of the tree, barking like a
maniac until finally I pulled her away and continued down the sidewalk.
By that time the homeowner had come out. “Sir!” she called out, and I
let that one go. I’ve been called worse. “Aren’t you going to clean up your
dog’s mess?”
There are times when I’ve gone out with the dog and forgotten the
prerequisite bag for her phenomenal output, but this wasn’t one of them. I
pulled a bag out of my pocket and replied, “I would be glad to clean it up
but she didn’t do anything but chase a squirrel up your tree.”
“What’s that under the tree then?” she demanded.
I walked over to take a closer look then picked up a big piece of bark.
“You mean this?”
“Well, then what’s that?” she said. I picked up a leaf. We went on in
this way until we had inventoried everything under the tree, none of it
scatological, thank God.
She grudgingly acknowledged that this time, we were clean. “I don’t
like it when dogs do that in my yard,” she said, looking at my dog through
the eyes of a cat lover. “I hate stepping in it.”
I sympathized with her completely on every point, but as the dog and
I walked on I thought about the beauty of our American legal system
where one is innocent until proven guilty.
Innocent until proven guilty was not the modus operandi on the day
when Jesus showed up in court. When as a child I heard the story of Jesus’
passion and death, I contemplated how much it all must have hurt: the
scourging, the thorns, the cross. As an adult, I wonder more what Jesus
must have been thinking through the whole pitiable process, which
literally added insult to injury. Not only to be beaten but to be rejected,
mocked, falsely accused, unappreciated, feared, and willfully
misunderstood had to add to the anguish of his
At Our House
suffering and death as his human half struggled to
by Jean Giesige
understand what he had ever done to get himself so
hated and reviled.
He spent his adult life telling the truth, and he had
to suffer through the decision of the people he had come
to save that they were going in another direction. No
one let him down gently. In his resurrection
maybe the greatest miracle was not that his heart
began to beat again. It was that he was willing to
give us another chance.
17
Let Us
Hear
From
You!
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18
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