Washington D.C., Apr 16, 2018 / 04:33 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela deepens, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announced that the United States will provide nearly $16 million in aid to Venezuelan refugees.
Pence made the a… […]
Philadelphia, Pa., Apr 16, 2018 / 09:56 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on Monday accepted the resignation for medical reasons of Archbishop Stefan Soroka of the Ukrainian Archeparchy of Philadelphia. Bishop Andriy Rabiy, an auxiliary bishop of the a… […]
Portland, Maine, Apr 15, 2018 / 04:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The word ‘hermit’ might conjure up some strange images, a la John the Baptist living reclusively in the desert, wearing a hair shirt and eating locusts and honey.
The word itself comes from the Greek ‘eremos’, meaning wilderness or an isolated place. The vocation of a hermit became most popular among early Christians, who, inspired by Old Testament saints such as Elijah and John the Baptist, desired to live a life set apart and therefore withdrew into the desert in order to live lives of prayer and penance.
But the vocation is still a recognized calling in the Church today, and is about so much more than seemingly-odd ascetic practices and isolation.
In the interview below, Brother Rex, a hermit at Little Portion Hermitage in the Diocese of Portland, told Catholic News Agency what it is like to live the eremitic life in the 21st century.
What does it mean to be a hermit?
According to the Church’s latest Code of Canon Law the canonical definition of a hermit is as follows:
Can. 603 §1. In addition to institutes of consecrated life, the Church recognizes the eremitic or anchoritic life by which the Christian faithful devote their life to the praise of God and the salvation of the world through a stricter withdrawal from the world, the silence of solitude, and assiduous prayer and penance.
§2. A hermit is recognized by law as one dedicated to God in consecrated life if he or she publicly professes in the hands of the diocesan bishop the three evangelical counsels, confirmed by vow or other sacred bond, and observes a proper program of living under his direction.
A shorthand and non-canonical definition that I use is to say that a hermit is a woman or man who lives alone expressly for the glory of God, the good of the Church and the salvation of souls. Some hermits are consecrated by the Church per Canon 603 above and live their vocation in the name of the Church; some hermits live out their calling without publicly professing their commitment in the hands of the diocesan bishop. I am hermit of the former kind, i.e. according to Canon 603.
How did you find out about this way of life, and what drew you to it?
Grace drew me to this life. The example of the Desert Fathers and Mothers drew me to this life. The example of many of the great saints throughout history – Francis of Assisi, just to name one well-known saint who lived as hermit for a time before he was called to found a religious fraternity of Brother – drew me to this life. Through all and with all and in all of this it was God’s grace calling me to this particular way of discipleship.
How does one become a hermit? Was there someone you followed or learned from? How is the formation process different than that of a religious in community?
If a person wishes to discern a vocation to the eremitic life according to Canon 603, that person will want to contact the chancery of the diocese in which they live to determine whether or not the Ordinary of the diocese is open to the possibility of having a hermit under his canonical jurisdiction. If he is, the Ordinary or his representative in conversation with the would-be hermit will determine how the discernment process is to proceed.
What does a day in the life of a hermit look like?
Each hermit has his or her own schedule. My schedule looks like this:
My day begins around 4:00 a.m. I make a daily Holy Hour from 5:00-6:00 a.m. during which I pray the Morning Office. I attend daily Mass at a local parish at 7:00 a.m. After returning from Mass I have breakfast and spend the rest of the morning engaged in spiritual reading, Lectio Divina, and meeting occasionally with any person who has made an appointment to see me for spiritual direction. After Noonday Prayer and lunch, the afternoon (approximately 1-5 p.m.) consists of a work period during which I respond to email, and take prayer requests via email or regular mail. I pray the Evening Office at 5:00 p.m., my evening meal is at 5:30pm, Night Prayer is at 7 p.m., and lights out by 8 p.m. most nights.
This schedule is rigid enough to provide stability for my vocation in the silence of solitude, yet flexible enough to accommodate running errands, doctor’s appointments, accomplishing tasks around the hermitage and so forth.
How isolated are hermits, in practice? How often or in what context do you encounter other people?
It varies. Some hermits rarely venture out of their hermitage. Some hermits venture out a couple of days a week to some form of work to provide financial support. The amount of time a hermit spends outside the hermitage or otherwise encounters other people is determined to a large degree by the interpretation of Canon 603 in dialogue with their Ordinary or his representative, and the hermit’s Rule or Plan of Life.
What are some of the biggest misconceptions about this way of life that you have encountered?
The biggest misconception I have encountered is that people seem to think that hermits are misanthropes who dislike other people and so hide away from them; that our life is not so because we love God, but because we can’t get along with other people (at best) or dislike humans altogether (at worst).
I remember one person telling me I couldn’t possibly be a hermit because I am too outgoing and friendly toward others! That being said, I would argue that eremitic life and misanthropy are two very different things. Eremitic life is a calling from God and includes a love of others. Misanthropy on the other hand is a psychologically maladaptive response to the world. This is not to say that all hermits are friendly and outgoing – being friendly and outgoing are a matter of temperament – but it is to say that hermits in a healthy and Christian sense do not, indeed cannot, “dislike humankind” which is the very definition of misanthropy.
What are some of the most joyful aspects of the life of a hermit?
One of the most joyful aspect of my life as a hermit is the opportunity God has given me to spend long periods in the silence of solitude to practice being present to God and to my neighbor through prayer. Paradoxically perhaps, another joyful aspect of my vocation is the part I am blessed to play in the lives of other people as they invite me to join them on their life journey through the ministry of intercessory prayer. Thus, in a particular way i am able to fulfill Our Lord’s command to love God and neighbor.
Are there other hermits in the U.S. that you know of, or have met? Is there a hermit network of sorts?
I’m sure someone somewhere keeps an official tally of the total number of consecrated hermits in the Church throughout world, but I don’t know who or where. In the diocese where I live there are five or six other hermits listed in the official Diocesan Directory. I am also aware of hermits, both male and female, in other dioceses in the U.S. and abroad. As for a ‘hermit network,’ I know of nothing official, but some of us do keep in touch via an occasional email, or letter or phone call. As I said, we not misanthropes. Not most of us, anyway!
Is there anything that you wish other Catholics, Christians or society at large knew about being a hermit?
What I pray for other Catholics, non-Catholic Christians and society at large is that they, like me, come to experience the freedom, happiness and joy that comes from submitting one’s will and life to the loving lordship of Jesus Christ in whatever state of life they find themselves.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Assure your readers that I live my vocation as a prayer for them. Ask them to please pray for me, a sinner.
Prayer requests for Brother Rex, as well as his spiritual reflections and links for financial support, can be found at Friends of Little Portion Hermitage.
Richmond, Va., Apr 14, 2018 / 03:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Each year at Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School, students are required to complete a “senior evangelization project” for their final year’s theology class.
This year, the students have been assigned by their teacher, John Goerke, with tackling their class project through a particular medium: film.
Each student has been charged with researching, writing, shooting, and editing their own film about Catholicism, inspired by Bishop Robert Barron’s own video series, “Catholicism: Pivotal Players”.
Because the project was inspired by Bishop Barron himself, the students and Goerke recently asked the Los Angeles auxiliary bishop in a video letter on Twitter to judge the final five nominees and choose the winner of what the school is calling the “Bishop Barron Video Award.”
He agreed.
“How could I say no?” Barron told CNA.
Barron remarked that he was notified late Thursday night of the video letter by a friend of his. After watching it, he said he was “very touched and moved” by the whole story. He later replied to the Tweet, saying “Wow, this made my day!”
“My own thinking has kind of impacted these kids and my own approach to evangelization has influenced them, so I was very moved by it and was very grateful to their teacher,” Barron noted.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>On behalf of the entire senior class of <a href=”https://twitter.com/BpSullivanCHS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@BpSullivanCHS</a>, we want to thank <a href=”https://twitter.com/BishopBarron?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@BishopBarron</a> for responding so quickly to our video letter. Thank you also to <a href=”https://twitter.com/ccpecknold?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@ccpecknold</a>, <a href=”https://twitter.com/KayBisaillon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@KayBisaillon</a>, <a href=”https://twitter.com/FrGoyo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@FrGoyo</a> and everyone else who spread the word. (And those who every day spread the Word.) Thank You</p>— John Thomas Goerke (@JohnTGoerke) <a href=”https://twitter.com/JohnTGoerke/status/984779699476934658?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>April 13, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
The seniors at Bishop Sullivan produced 34 videos in total and put in more than 300 hours of combined work into the making of the films. Goerke said he would view all of the films, and narrow down the finalist list to five nominees. These final films will be reviewed by Bishop Barron.
As Barron watches the videos, he said he would be looking for a number of different qualities in order to determine the winner.
“I suppose I am looking for a combination of content and style. I’d also like it to be substantive, because that has been a big part of my work – I don’t want evangelization to just be superficial and flashy,” he said.
He said the students should not have a problem incorporating substance into their videos, since they have been learning from great minds, such as G.K. Chesterton, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Bl. John Henry Newman.
Barron also noted that he would be looking for films which are “visually engaging” and “artistically done, with a little touch of creativity and maybe a little bit of humor.”
Among the film topics submitted by the students range from the resurgence of the Tridentine Mass among young Catholics to the Sisters of Life out of the Archdiocese of New York.
The videos will be recognized at the school’s Senior Awards Ceremony and baccalaureate Mass.
Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School in Virginia Beach, Va., more than 100 miles southeast of Richmond, has educational roots dating back to 1848 and was founded as a college preparatory school with the aim of nurturing the intellect, character, and Christian values.
Denver, Colo., Apr 13, 2018 / 04:59 pm (CNA).- By the time he was 30, Karol Wojtyla had endured the death of two parents, suffered through a Nazi occupation, earned a doctorate, and become a priest of Jesus Christ.
By the time she was 30, Josephine Bakhita had been captured as a slave, endured brutal beatings, run away from slave traders, crossed a desert by camel, and taken up residence in an Italian convent of nuns.
By the time he was 30, Francis of Assisi had been a prisoner of war, renounced a life of comfort, become a mystic, founded a community, and taken up a mission to rebuild Christ’s Church.
Therese of Lisieux never made it to 30. She lived her little way of love until she died at 24. One hundred years later, John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church.
Young people can do incredible and important things for God. They can endure difficult circumstances with grace. They can preach the Gospel, and witness to Christ.
By the time he was 30, Raymond Arroyo had also done something big for the Lord: he’d launched “The World Over Live,” a long-running EWTN television show dedicated to news and conversation from a perspective of faith.
Arroyo knows that young people can do great things. This is why it was surprising that on his television program this week, he asked guests: “Why are we listening to young people, who really haven’t experienced a lot of life, or of God, frankly?”
Arroyo and his guests were discussing a Vatican gathering of young people from around the world, invited to share their perspectives on the challenges of the modern era, and the role the Church can play in the evangelization and formation of youth, in advance of an October synod of bishops on “Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment.”
To some young people, the show’s discussion implied that young people are constitutionally unable to cogently articulate their views, and that they have little to contribute to a discussion about evangelization, catechesis, and pastoral care.
Some young people found this offensive– I know this because before I finished my coffee this morning, I got texts, DMs, and phone calls saying so, from young and faithful priests, from young mothers of large families, and from faithful Catholics engaged in youth ministry and missionary work.
I agree with their criticism. Some of the discussion seemed dismissive of young people, alternately suggesting that they were being used as patsies, that their views had little value, or that their apparently poor catechesis rendered their perspective unhelpful. And the idea that young people necessarily have limited life experience or spiritual wisdom runs contrary to 2,000 years of holiness among the Church’s youth.
I don’t know what Arroyo intended- I doubt he meant to sound dismissive of participants in the Vatican meeting, and of young people in general. I suspect, instead, his intention was to criticize the structure of the gathering, and the document it produced. I suspect he has concerns about the upcoming synod on young people.
Many people suspect that a faction of the synod’s bishops will seek to undermine the Church’s teaching on artificial contraception- claiming that openness to life is an ideal, but unachievable for many couples, who might choose in good conscience to use artificial contraception. Many people also suspect that the synod might be an occasion in which the universal call to holiness is watered down, and the Church seems to capitulate ever more to the prevailing social, sexual, and cultural norms of our time.
Those are legitimate concerns, and I share them.
Arroyo may have also, like me, found parts of the document produced by the Vatican’s youth meeting to be confusing, agenda-driven, and inconsistent. The document says some beautiful and important things, and some things that don’t make sense. But it reflects, or at least is intended to reflect, perspectives actually expressed by young people, Catholic and non-Catholic, from around the world.
So why did the Church ask young people for their perspectives? She asked because listening is the first step in evangelization and formation. Jesus began many of his most profound evangelical encounters by asking questions. The answers he got were sometimes truthful, sometimes silly, and sometimes confusing. But they began a conversation, and they allowed the Lord to respond to the person right in front of him, leading a soul to conversion.
I spend a lot of time listening to my children. Sometimes they say beautiful things. Sometimes I have no idea what they’re saying. Sometimes, what they’re saying is juvenile- they’re children, so that makes sense. But I listen to them so that I know them, understand them, and begin to respond to their interests, their hopes, their confusion, and their needs. This doesn’t mean that I will change my commitment to forming them in faith. It means only that I love them, respect them, and care enough about them to give them space to share their views. I’ve learned to listen to my children mostly from my wife, of course, but she learned it from Jesus.
Arroyo is right to be concerned about what might come of the upcoming synod. All Catholics should urge our bishops to stand for truth, and pray the Church’s leaders will be strong and courageous in promoting and defending the truth. We should recognize Satan, the enemy of truth.
But the question asked on “The World Over Live” is not the right question. We listen to young people to hear their perspective. Having done that, we need to ask what the Synod of Bishops will actually do with their answers. We need to ask what plan will be developed to evangelize young people living in broken families and a broken culture– to call them to holiness, rather than validate their choices. We need to ask how we can form them – intellectually, spiritually, socially, and morally – given the vapid, pornographic, lonely, and amoral culture in which many of them were raised. And we need to ask how we can support young people already living as disciples of Jesus, among them the smart, faithful, evangelistic twentysomethings in CNA’s newsroom, who face temptations to discouragement amidst a confusing era in the Church’s own life.
Souls – those of young and old alike – are the prize. Calling young people to Jesus – Catholic or not, well-catechized or not – is the goal. The Church needs the energy, enthusiasm, and ideas of young people. And young people need the merciful love of Christ, expressed in the life of his Church.
Hearing what young people say, no matter how strongly we disagree, can be the first step to evangelizing them. Dismissing those invited to speak, rather than engaging with their ideas, will not move them toward the Lord.
“In the sharing of ideals, problems and hopes,” Pope St. John Paul II said, “young people will experience living the reality promised by Jesus: ‘Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.’”
Young people, the Church wants to hear you. She wants to know you. She wants to hear your questions. And then she wants to propose that Jesus Christ is the answer to every question, every hope, every fear, and every longing in your heart, and in every human heart.
Washington D.C., Apr 13, 2018 / 04:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Catholic leaders have said that the dramatic decrease in the number of Syrian refugees accepted by the United States is of great humanitarian concern.
While the United States government is in the midst of condemning and investigating recent suspected chemical warfare attacks reportedly carried out by the Syrian government, the number of Syrian refugees accepted by the United States has declined dramatically this year.
According to the State Department, the United States has accepted only 11 Syrian refugees so far this year, compared with 790 over the same period in 2016.
More than 10 million Syrians have been displaced from their homes over the course of a civil war that has been ongoing for the past seven years. Many of these refugees have overwhelmingly flooded neighboring countries such as Jordan and Lebanon.
“The precipitous decline in the number of Syrians the United States is resettling is extremely concerning,” Bill O’Keefe, vice president for government relations and advocacy for Catholic Relief Services, told CNA.
“…millions of Syrians remain displaced, caught in a web of violence and proxy wars,” he added. “The United States has traditionally taken the most vulnerable refugees, including Syrians, who have suffered terrible trauma or would be unable to go home. These refugees are the neighbors Jesus told us to love in the Gospel. We can safely welcome thousands of these women, men, and children to our country.”
In 2016, the United States resettled more than 15,000 Syrian refugees, and just over 3,000 in 2017. If the current rate is maintained, fewer than 50 Syrian refugees will be resettled in the United States in 2018.
For 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump set the total number of refugees that would be accepted by the United States at 45,000, and travel bans and other obstacles have slowed immigration even further.
Edward Clancy, director of outreach for Aid to the Church in Need, USA, told CNA that U.S. immigration policies have also been particularly unfair to Christian refugees in previous years.
“The number of Christian refugees has been very low compared to their representation in the population, so we’re speaking out on behalf of Christians with no voice in the Middle East…we’ve made it part of our mandate to support the Christian community in the Middle East in these areas of refugees, food shelter, pastoral care, whatever is needed,” Clancy told CNA.
Clancy noted that many churches in the United States have been very generous at the local level in supporting and welcoming new refugees, but he urged Catholics and Christians to get in touch with their representatives to voice their concerns about policies affecting Syrian and other refugees.
“If they feel that something needs to be done, then they should contact their congressman or senator to say that we have to make sure that these people have every opportunity for life, because that’s what it comes down to,” Clancy said.
“They’re leaving…mainly just to stay alive. Almost all of them want to stay home, they want to stay where they come from, they don’t want to move, they’re being forced to do so, so we should be understanding of that,” he said.
Bill Canny, executive director for Migration and Refugee Services for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), told CNA that the number of refugees the United States was accepting from Syria in past years was already small in comparison to the millions who were forced to flee their homes.
The U.S. Bishops had advocated for an annual refugee cap of at least 75,000 for the United States for 2018, before the Trump administration announced it would be 45,000, Canny added.
“We were already only able to help a few, and not being able to do that is very disconcerting,” Canny told CNA.
The USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Service is one of nine national resettlement programs, working with the Catholic Charities network throughout the country to help resettle refugees, including Syrians. Most refugees arrive in the United States simply wanting a dignified life and are eager to be contributing citizens, Canny noted.
“They want good education for their children, they jump on work opportunities, I think that in a matter of a few months at least 75 percent of refugees get a job and start working,” he said. “These are people who have suffered badly, languishing in either refugee camps or urban slums oftentimes, who deserve another chance.”
He added that refugees who enter the United States were already subjected to the strictest vetting, and that additional security measures were not necessary.
“While we respect safety concerns and we know it’s the government’s right to keep us safe, we don’t think the refugee program is an avenue of danger to our citizens, due to the extensive security checks that have been done for a number of years,” Canny said.
Furthermore, the issue of refugee resettlement should be of particular concern to Christians because the Gospel compels them to care for the poor and the needy, Canny noted.
“Certainly it’s a core responsibility of our faith, from exhortations in the Old Testament to welcome the stranger, to make sure that one cares for newcomers, and of course from the New Testament and the teachings of Christ,” he said. “Matthew 25 compels us to help the neediest, and certainly refugees are really the neediest.”
Washington D.C., Apr 13, 2018 / 04:14 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A group of prominent Church officials from El Salvador visited the United States this week to urge a reconsideration of recent changes to immigration policy.
In January 2018, the Department of… […]
Greensburg, Pa., Apr 13, 2018 / 03:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A Catholic liberal arts college in Pennsylvania is hosting its seventh biennial Catholic Arts Competition and Exhibition to move artists and buyers towards diverse, original, and beautiful Chri… […]
Washington D.C., Apr 13, 2018 / 12:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After a record-high year of death sentences implemented around the world in 2016, a new report released by Amnesty International shows an overall decrease in capital punishment during 2017.
Ho… […]
Washington D.C., Apr 12, 2018 / 04:23 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Inspired by recent student walkouts over gun control, hundreds of high school and college students across the US took part in a pro-life walkout on Wednesday.
According to pro-life group Students for Life of America (SFLA), more than 400 students and student organizations told SFLA that they planned on participating in the April 11 walkout, though the actual number is likely higher, as students did not have to register with the group to participate.
“Across the country, pro-life students and groups stood up for the 321,384 babies killed by Planned Parenthood every year, against the violence of abortion, and in support of pregnant and parenting students,” SFLA president Kristan Hawkins said in a statement.
“In pictures worth millions of words, we saw students walking out, praying, and chalking pro-life messages to bring attention to the fact that one-fourth of our generation has been snuffed out of existence because of legalized abortion,” she added.
Participants were encouraged to use #Life and #ProLifeWalkout to document their participation on social media. Like the March for Our Lives walkout, the pro-life walkout lasted 17 minutes, during which time students mourned the 10 babies who would be killed by abortion within that time frame.
So proud of the more than 60 students who participated in the #ProLifeWalkout from my high school. We are the #ProLifeGeneration. @Students4LifeHQ pic.twitter.com/qgmN88lFlh
— Blake Barclay (@blakebarclayusa) April 11, 2018
The idea for the pro-life walkout came from Brandon Gillespie, a student at Rocklin High School in Rocklin, Calif., a suburb of Sacramento.
Gillespie said in March that the idea for the pro-life walkout came to him after his history teacher, Julianne Benzel, discussed the national gun control walkouts in her classroom. Benzel asked her students whether the same privileges would be afforded to students if they wanted to walk out over issues like abortion, or if a double standard existed. She was then placed on paid administrative leave following complaints about her discussion of the issue.
“If you’re going to allow students to get up and walk out without penalty, then you’re going to have to allow any group of students that wants to protest,” Benzel told Fox & Friends.
After hearing of Gillespie’s plan to hold a pro-life walkout, Students for Life created a website promoting the idea to schools throughout the nation.
“I also want to thank Brandon Gillespie at Rocklin High School for inspiring this national walkout and for not letting his school intimidate him out of hosting his walkout. The tremendous, truly grassroots interest we have seen in the walkout is further proof that the Pro-Life Generation is the majority and is strong and growing,” Hawkins said.
The website for the walkout included a list of high schools and colleges that registered with SFLA for the walkout, which included public and private schools from throughout the United States.
Proud to stand with Morality High School students during their time of silence for the their classmates lost to abortion and women hurt at during the #ProLifeWalkout! pic.twitter.com/CJekGhuGFr
— Bethany Janzen (@BethanySFLA) April 11, 2018
“…it’s time for the #ProLifeGen to stand up and say ‘Enough is Enough!’ We will no longer tolerate legal abortion in our nation, which has killed more than a fourth of our generation,” the walkout website stated.
“We will no longer watch as our leaders in Washington continue to fund our nation’s largest abortion vendor, Planned Parenthood, with more than $500 million of our taxpayer dollars. We will no longer permit Planned Parenthood and their allies in the abortion industry to target our peers for their predatory business cycle.”
Hawkins added that SFLA was notified of several students who reported that they faced discrimination for participating in a pro-life walkout, while the gun control walkout was given special accommodations by many schools.
Life Legal Defense Foundation, a non-profit that defends pro-life clients, sent a letter to Gillespie’s high school, notifying the administration that they could face legal ramifications if they interfered with the pro-life walkout and treated participating students differently than those who participated in the gun control walkout.
SFLA and Life Legal have offered to provide legal assistance to any students who faced discrimination for their participation in the pro-life walkout.
© Catholic World Report