Bishop John F. Kinney

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

The theme for this year’s Annual Diocesan Appeal centers on the words BELONG, BELIEVE and BESTOW.

We BELONG to the church and thus are called to be co-workers and collaborators in the vineyard of the Lord. In parishes throughout our diocese, selfless acts of service are given every day by parishioners.

We have catechists teaching the Catholic faith to the young, choirs enhancing the liturgy of the Sunday Eucharist, mentors helping catechumens prepare for the sacraments of initiation at Easter, sponsor couples accompanying those preparing for the sacrament of matrimony and countless others involved in a myriad of ministries in our parishes.

Through the support of those who contribute to the Annual Diocesan Appeal each year, parish ministers and volunteers can rely on the assistance and expertise of the staff members of our diocesan offices. Offices such as Catholic Education Ministries, the Office of Worship and the Office of Marriage and Family provide resources for our parishes — services individual parishes could not achieve on their own.

Thus, the faith of our people is constantly built up and our parish life is enhanced. As a result we, the people of God, do BELIEVE.

Heartfelt thanks
Recently, a young couple shared with me how much they were enriched in faith through the pre-marriage course offered by our Office of Marriage and Family. Both felt better prepared spiritually, emotionally and even financially to face the realities of married life. As they celebrated their first anniversary, they reflected on how much they had received because of this formation and solid preparation before marriage.

Each Sunday, the televised Mass reaches countless shut-ins in our Diocese. Videos of the TV Mass are mailed to nursing homes and cable stations so that those who must rely on this service can receive it weekly. I receive many heartwarming letters from homebound viewers who are unable to attend the Eucharist, expressing their deep appreciation for this opportunity to pray with the church.

It is with a humble and grateful heart that I thank all of you who so willingly BESTOW your gifts, whether great or small, to our diocese for the building of the Kingdom of God in our midst. Your financial gifts reach much further than you ever imagine, enriching countless lives throughout our diocese each year.

Again this year, I ask you to join me in supporting our Annual Diocesan Appeal. Your generous contribution will help accomplish the work the Holy Spirit prompts all of us to do. BELONG, BELIEVE, BESTOW.

May God bless and guide you as you prayerfully consider your response.
Thank you.

Let us give thanks for the women and men religious

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Fourteen years ago, Pope John Paul II called for an annual observation of a World Day of Consecrated Life each February. The date set for this year’s celebration is Feb. 7. A few years ago we sponsored a diocesan prayer service to mark the observance. In recent years we have encouraged parishes to commemorate the day in some significant way.

When I look back over my own life, vowed women and men religious have played a very significant part in my own formation in the faith. Along with my own family members, it was the religious sisters and brothers in the Catholic schools who planted and nurtured my vocation to the priesthood. I was taught and formed by Franciscan Sisters, Dominican Sisters, Benedictine Sisters, and the Christian Brothers. All these communities of religious left traces of their specific spiritual charisms in my life.

Still today, I often repeat the hourly prayer that permeated the classroom day at the Christian Brothers’ De La Salle High School: “Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God!” I doubt I would be a priest without the influence and impact of these communities of religious.

Blessed with their presence
With declining numbers of religious vocations and the graying of religious, I believe the church is deeply concerned that many consecrated religious communities could vanish from the church, at least in the United States. What a tragedy that would be for the mission of the church. What a blow that would be for the universal church and for our Diocese of St. Cloud!

Both the World Day of Consecrated Life and the recently announced apostolic visitation of apostolic congregations of women religious in our country give us the opportunity to convey our support and deep esteem for the religious in the Diocese of St. Cloud.

We are blessed with the presence, the prayers, and the community charisms of the Sisters of St. Benedict of St. Joseph, the Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls, the Crosier priests and brothers of Onamia and the Order of St. Benedict of St. John’s Abbey.

Beyond these communities based in our diocese, we also have individual religious members working here from the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Mankato, the Dominican Sisters from Sinsinawa, the Franciscan Sisters from Rochester and from Joliet and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in St. Paul. We are grateful to all of them for their mission and ministries among us.

Of course, we are also blessed by the Monastery of the Poor Clares in Sauk Rapids. These contemplative nuns spend their days and nights in prayer and fasting, ever within the enclosure of their monastery walls, for all of us and for our intentions! What a gift of prayer and blessing they are for our diocese and for all of us.

On behalf of the diocese, I extend intense gratitude for all of the consecrated religious women and men, who have provided us with faithful service, stability in their presence and hope for the future.

In addition to the gratitude we hold in our hearts, it is important for us to step forward and give them our support and strong encouragement for their lives. Think back on how religious women and men have helped you in your life. Have you ever told them of your gratitude — through a note, an e-mail or a prayer of thanks? It is not too late to do that now! And if God has already called them to the fullness of eternal life, pray for them and thank God they gave their lives to a vocation to consecrated life and that they persevered in it.

Let us also ask God to send replacements for them! Talk with your children, grandchildren and/or students about the beauty of serving God and God’s church through a lifelong commitment to consecrated life. Be supportive of young people thinking about a vocation to religious life! The church needs many religious women and men living evangelical vows or monastic profession in order to be a further vibrant sign to all of us of the presence of Christ in our world.

We are grateful to you, O God, for all your blessings given us through the women and men religious of the church, and we praise you.

Every child counts in the eyes of God

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

On this 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I want to share with you a few thoughts relating to the issue of abortion.

Infants seem defenseless, weak, fragile. They cannot take care of themselves. They rely on others for their survival. They are the model of innocence, dependence and helplessness.

But infants are far from powerless. Bring a baby into a group of people and watch what happens. Almost universally, faces light up. Everyone wants to touch the baby, hold the baby, make the baby laugh. Even reserved and sophisticated people make funny faces and talk baby-talk. The toughest exteriors melt when the baby smiles.

Bring a baby to a nursing home and watch the joy of remembrance and the zeal for life come back into the eyes of the elderly. Babies have the unique ability to touch the deepest of human emotions, our natural impulse to care, protect, nurture and love.

Full of potential
What evokes these responses is our common humanity. At some level, we know that this is how all of us began our lives. At our birth, we were all equal and totally dependent upon the care of others. Our new lives were full of unknown potential.

Given that, who of us can now claim to know what God has planned for each child to whom he gives an immortal soul? Every child is a distinctive reflection of the infinite goodness and power of God, from the moment of conception until natural death.

Every child counts in the eyes of God. Every child has a role to play in God’s grand design. And no matter how long we live, whether we are an embryo in our mother’s womb or an elderly person in a nursing home, our lives are of infinite value.

Reasons for hope
We have lived now with the tragic legacy of Roe v. Wade for 37 years. During that time, 50 million children have been aborted. One third of a generation has been lost to a law that defies logic in favoring choice over the value of innocent human life.

Today, we can only persevere in the hope that the tireless work of crisis pregnancy centers, pro-life voices and courageous leaders in the church and society will continue to make a difference.

We thank God that the number of abortions is declining. Our young people are increasingly motivated by the Gospel of life and bearing witness to the value of life. Our prayers for life and for the cessation of abortion continue to be heard by a loving God.

As Blessed Mother Teresa often said: “None of us can do everything, but all of us can do something.” If even helpless babies have the power to evoke hope and reverence for life, what might each of us accomplish when we let the Spirit of God work through us?

“You shall treat the alien who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you; have the same love for him as for yourself; for you too were once aliens in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:34).

Filled with memories of Christmas celebrations of 2009, we move on to the new year of 2010. What will it hold for us? How will it challenge us, cause us to grow and awake in us a new spirit of truth?

Here in Minnesota, our Catholic parishes begin 2010 with Immigration Sunday, celebrated on the feast of the Epiphany, Jan. 3. We are reminded, challenged and awakened to the reality of immigrants and refugees in our midst. Our church, following the example of Jesus, has long been an advocate for the marginalized, that is, those pushed back and away from the dominant culture to the margins of society.

The story of contemporary immigrants mirrors the story of the Holy Family’s sojourn into Egypt. Every year, millions of people need to leave their native countries not only as refugees but also as persons seeking jobs that will allow them and their families to live a dignified life. We know the single greatest reason that immigrants enter the United States is employment. For many, that journey means great sacrifices that include leaving part or all of their families behind.

Understanding the truth
It is important that we inform ourselves about the facts around this important issue in order to counter the untruths we so often hear. I invite you to the newly launched Web site “Justice for Immigrants Minnesota.” On its resource page at www.jfimn.org/resources.html you will find a wealth of information. I invite you to go to “Immigration Basics and Immigration Myths” so that you are equipped with the truth about our sisters and brothers.

In conclusion, I refer to a portion of the “Prayer for Our Immigrant Brothers and Sisters” also found at this Web site. It reads:

God of all people, grant us vision
To see your presence in our midst,
Especially in our immigrant sisters and brothers.
Give us courage
To open the door to our neighbors
And grace to build a society of justice.

This is my prayer for all of us in the St. Cloud Diocese and beyond. In 2010, may we take on the challenge to open our hearts to our immigrant sisters and brothers so that we may build a society of justice. May we be true followers of Jesus who loved all people, especially those who are marginalized.

December 12, 2009

At the Heart of Christmas Message: 'Do not be afraid, I am with you.'

On Christmas Eve a few years ago, I tuned in to a radio broadcast in which the question was posed to a group of people, “What is the most generous thing you have ever done at Christmas?”

A high school student within the group quickly responded: “Last Christmas I was volunteering at a nearby nursing home. As I was delivering papers to the patients’ rooms, I heard one elderly woman call out in German, ‘I am so afraid. Help me. I am all alone.’

“Since I was studying German in school, I stopped, went into her room, sat at a chair next to her bed, took her hand in mine and said in my poor German, ‘Don’t be afraid. You’re not alone. I am here with you.’ Then I stayed in the room a few minutes holding her hand until she fell asleep.”

The student reflected for a moment and then said, “I think that was one of the most generous things I have ever done at Christmas time.”

Jesus coming among us
“Don’t be afraid; you are not alone. I am here with you.” Those words of that young volunteer capture the meaning of Christmas and the joy of the Incarnation.
Our generous, loving God has sent his only Son into our world to take on our humanity and to become the Word made flesh. Jesus has come among us! It is Christ taking our hands and lives into his own: “Do not be afraid; you are not alone. I am with you.”

As we gaze at the manger scene during this Christmas season, the message of Christmas is very clear: God has visited us in Christ Jesus. We are not alone. God is with us. There is no need to be afraid.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me.
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

St. Patrick’s Breastplate,
Liturgy of the Hours, I, p.1671

I pray this feast of the Incarnation will help you experience and share the generosity of God in Christ. May you and all your loved ones have a very blessed Christmas season and the new year 2010 be filled with grace and peace. Bishop Alphonse Sowada joins me in offering our blessings to all of you.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

“If you’ve got your health, you’ve got everything.”

That old saying reminds us that our health profoundly affects how we experience God’s other blessings in life. My own experience of surgeries and therapy this past summer brought this truth into sharp relief. I am so grateful to those who prayed and worked on my behalf. Dependence and diminishment are not easy for us, but they teach us how interconnected our lives truly are.

During those weeks of my recovery, I could not help but think of the thousands of our sisters and brothers, many in our own communities, who are not so fortunate in this land of abundance. They live with pain, or disability or anxiety about their families, one illness or mishap away from ruin, because they do not have access to the quality, affordable health care that some might take for granted.

A basic human right
For almost 50 years, our church has spoken out about the need to guarantee adequate health care for all. In his 1963 encyclical “Pacem in Terris” (“Peace on Earth”), Pope John XXIII declared that health care is a basic human right, essential to respect for life and dignity and a condition for achieving true peace in the human family. My brother bishops and I have spoken about this issue often since then, not in political terms, but as a matter of morality, justice and concern for the common good.

Since the church is a significant provider of health care in our country, we recognize the urgency and the complexity of reforming a system that hasdeveloped in inconsistent stages over the past 150 years. Beginning as a charitable response to the Gospel, largely by communities of women religious, the healing mission of Jesus remains at the heart of our work, often serving those who have no other help.

As you well know, health care reform has been daily news in recent months. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and our Minnesota Catholic Conference and their staffs have been actively engaged in this issue from the beginning. This has been difficult work because of the rapid changes and multiple proposals under discussion.

Our clear and consistent message remains: Health care that genuinely respects human life in its most dependent and vulnerable conditions is a basic right and a condition for true justice. Health care reform must protect all human life, must prohibit mandatory funding of abortion (directly or indirectly), must uphold existing conscience protections and must give effective access for all persons to basic health care that enhances and never destroys life.

Contacting legislators
Now that the final versions are ready for public debate, it has become clear that no current bill meets these moral requirements of life-affirming reform. As a result, the USCCB has communicated to every member of Congress, “If acceptable language in these areas cannot be found, we will have to oppose the health care bill vigorously.”

I join my brother bishops throughout the country, and many others of good will, to urge you to contact your legislators. This weekend you will receive information in your parish indicating how every Catholic can participate to send a consistent message to those who represent us in Congress.

We have worked too long and too hard to settle for any reform that does not lead to better health care for every person, made in the image of God. Please make your voice heard, for the voice of Christ, our Healer, reminds us, “Whatever you do for the least, you do for me” (Matthew 25:40).

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We have had numerous opportunities this past month to celebrate our connections around the world

We are people of God’s kingdom. That kingdom is both already present in our midst — ushered in by Christ’s life, death and resurrection — and still in process of fully becoming.

That kingdom is our destiny, the end for which we were made. We enter into it by being in right relationship with God and with others. We catch glimpses of the great unity for which we strive; yet, we know we have not yet fully arrived. We have enjoyed a number of those glimpses this past month.

The Crosier Fathers and Brothers celebrated 800 years since the founding of their order and 100 years since their arrival in Minnesota on Sept. 13 here in the St. Cloud Diocese. I was especially pleased that Bishop Alo Murwito and Father Virgil Petermeier were able to come from the Diocese of Agats, Indonesia, to join in the celebration of centuries of faithful witness on the part of the Crosiers.

The following week, three delegates from our partner diocese of Maracay, Venezuela, arrived: Elvis Vílchez, Conrrada Fajardo and the bishop of Maracay, Monseñor Rafael Conde. Their visit has strengthened our unity with that local church at a time when they face many changes and challenges.

Our annual Harvest for Hope gathering at the Spanier farm in Spring Hill on Sept. 27 was a wonderful day of remembrance and celebration of all of our faith connections around the world.

Drawing the future into the present
In his encyclical, “Spe Salvi,” Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “Faith is not merely a personal reaching out toward things to come that are still totally absent: it gives us something. It gives us even now something of the reality we are waiting for.… Faith draws the future into the present” (#7).

Our unity with all peoples was truly felt throughout the events of the past weeks when we were touched by our brothers and sisters from around the world.
Children and youth in our Catholic schools and faith formation programs celebrated their connection with our brothers and sisters around the world on Holy Childhood Day Oct. 2 by praying the World Mission Rosary.

I would like each and every one of us to find a way during this month of October not only to give generously to the collection for the church around the world on World Mission Sunday, Oct. 18, but also to make a special effort throughout this month to contribute by special prayer and action to the well-being and unity of our global family of faith.

We are all going to God together, and we do that by building up our communion with one another.

At the end of May I thought I had my summer schedule all worked out and firmly set in my calendar, confident of what I was going to be doing and where I was going in the coming months.

Then on June 4, after attending a meeting of the Minnesota bishops, I returned home that evening to host a dinner for Bishop Joseph Charron, a dear friend, who was giving a retreat at St. Benedict’s Monastery. As the dinner progressed, I began experiencing growing discomfort in my hip and left leg, finally to the point of having to use a cane to walk as we left the table.

A visit to the emergency room at the hospital gave me momentary relief and comfort. Then on June 6, after literally struggling to ordain our wonderful new priest, Father Omar Guanchez, the rest of my summer schedule began to change right before my eyes. By Monday, June 8, I was hospitalized with a diagnosis of spinal stenosis and surgery was indicated.

Now mid-September, two spinal surgeries have been successfully completed; time was well spent in the rehabilitation unit at St. Cloud Hospital; and later recuperation steadily progressed at home, with even some relaxing time at the lake.

Thanks to all
My prayers during these days are filled with gratitude to God for the healing and the health care that have been provided to me. Would that all in our country and world have access to the health care I have received these last months.

I am especially grateful to the staff at the diocese, particularly the Chancery personnel, who have been there for me at every step of the way. I thank God for the expertise and dedication of the doctors, surgeons, medical teams, nurses and therapists at St. Cloud Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester. They have been instruments of healing for me.

As I have written to you in previous columns, physical diminishment is not my strong suit. It is a humbling reality of life when what we used to do so effortlessly now has to be relearned so deliberately, whether because of sickness, trauma or older age. My compatriots in the rehabilitation unit of St. Cloud Hospital taught me daily lessons in the virtue of perseverance in the midst of diminishment.
Finally, I thank God for all of you, the great priests and deacons, religious and lay faithful of our diocese, for your prayers for me, for your cards and letters. Hearing from you and knowing of your prayers have bolstered my flagging spirits many times these past months.

Now it is time to get back to pastoral ministry, albeit a bit more slowly at the beginning.

Thank you for your love and concern.

Priests from far and near are a blessing for our church

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
On June 6, the church of our diocese gathered at St. Mary’s Cathedral to celebrate the Rite of Ordination for our newest priest, Father Omar Guanchez. Originally from Maracay, Venezuela, Omar grew up in the Parish of San Bartolomé, where he experienced firsthand the ministry of the many priests and religious who served there from our Diocese of St. Cloud.

In a way, we have come full circle. Now priests from Maracay are serving in our diocese — not only Father Omar, incardinated as a priest of our diocese, but also other priests from Maracay in mission to us for a period of years. Currently, Father José Bracamonte from Maracay serves the Hispanic people of our diocese.

From our other partnership with the Diocese of Homa Bay, Kenya, Father Gregory Ombok is here in mission for three years to help staff our parishes.

I am so grateful to Bishop Philip Anyolo of Homa Bay and Bishop Rafael Conde of Maracay and the priests and people of their dioceses for sharing their priests with us. I long for the time when we are again able to share our priests, our religious men and women, and our lay people with those generous dioceses.

We are also very blessed to have five priests of the community of the St. Joseph Province of the Vincentian Congregation from Kerala, India, in our diocese to assist in serving our parishes.

Our brothers from overseas
While these priests are also needed for pastoral work in their home countries, it is a generous blessing for us that we can experience the presence and ministry of international priests in our parishes and our diocese. These priests, our brothers, bring with them a deep love of the Lord and a missionary zeal to share the Gospel and their own cultures with our culture and society.

This year Pope Benedict XVI has announced a special “Year of the Priest” to commence on June 19, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Holy Father has titled this year, “The Faithfulness of Christ, The Faithfulness of the Priest.” What a blessing our priests are to us. I ask us to pray for our priests, to encourage them in their dedicated ministry to us, and to thank them for their generous service.

We must also pray for vocations to the priesthood from our families. Homegrown priests from Central Minnesota are also necessary for the life of the church, here and throughout the world, now and into the future. The church needs priests. I am grateful for our priests and also for our dedicated seminarians, 20 in all, who are now preparing to be priests in the future for our diocese.

Praying for priests
Throughout this coming year I ask us all to pray for our priests:
Praise to you, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
for in your infinite love
you care for your people
by the ministry of priests.
May their faithful service
bring lasting good to your church
and great happiness to them.
Help them to do what is right,
that by their teaching and living
we may grow in the knowledge of your love.
As our priests instruct your people,
enlighten them with the wisdom of Christ the Teacher.
As they preach your Word and
celebrate the sacraments,
sanctify them with the holiness of Christ the High Priest.
As they face weakness, suffering and discouragement,
strengthen them with the grace of Christ the Life-Giver.
As they work for peace, unity and healing in your church, uphold them with the courage of Christ the Reconciler.
Giver of all good gifts,
make the ministry of our priests
a spiritual offering pleasing to you,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Many of you have been listening to the struggles the State of Minnesota faces to balance the budget for the next biennium. The bishops of Minnesota are grateful for the work of the Minnesota Catholic Conference during this intense legislative time. The Minnesota Catholic Conference monitors state legislative activity in its role as the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Minnesota. Most recently, a number of alarming initiatives have surfaced in the current legislative session that would negatively impact all non-public schools.

• Bills have been heard in both Senate and House committees that would eliminate transportation for special education services and severely curtail instructional services to non-public students who are eligible for special education.

As a consequence special education services would be eliminated for five out of six non-public students currently receiving those services.

• Another proposed bill would eliminate Minnesota’s K-12 Education Income Tax Deduction and Credits Program, crippling parental choice in education for thousands of families. Income tax deductions have been allowed in Minnesota for private education since 1955.

• A measure has been introduced that would allow school districts to charge fees for non-public students to ride school buses to and from school, a benefit provided since the 1950s. Charging bus fees to non-public families raises questions of fairness and concerns for children’s safety.

• For many years, preschool programs in non-public schools were treated the same as they are in public school settings, as school-related education programs. A change occurred a few years ago that began treating non-public preschools like child care centers, requiring licensure under Minnesota’s Department of Human Services.

When objections were raised to the inequitable application of requirements to non-public preschools, the Legislature declared a moratorium to provide time to review the situation. It is important that legislators now enact a law that would exclude non-public schools from licensure and allow them to be part of the school-related educational program.

Catholic schools have a rich tradition in the State of Minnesota. Many parents make huge sacrifices to send their children to Catholic schools and during this economic downturn the sacrifice has become even greater.

The single most important action that school parents and stakeholders can take is to contact their state senators and representatives, asking them to help preserve these benefits for non-public school children and families. At the same time, they might remind lawmakers what a great asset our non-public schools are to the State of Minnesota. The Minnesota Catholic Conference provides a citizen-easy advocacy tool called the Minnesota Catholic Advocacy Network.

This tool provides access to lawmakers and a way parents and interested folks are able to express their opinions about legislation that would either be helpful or harmful to non-public school families.

I invite you to join in advocacy by joining MNCAN at www.mncc.org. There is no fee for joining MNCAN, an important tool in contacting lawmakers about issues impacting your families and our state.

“At the chrism Mass, the bishop … blesses the oils for the sacraments, particularly the chrism oil that will be used in baptism and confirmation and in the sacrament of holy orders throughout the coming year.” — Bishop John F. Kinney

Every Lent there are two special liturgies I celebrate in our cathedral that touch me deeply as they build up the body of Christ.

On the first Sunday of Lent, the Rite of Election is celebrated in the cathedral of every diocese. The Rite of Election is one of the last stages of preparation for men and women who are being led by God’s grace into the life of the church.

The journey to faith is very often slow, and thus entrance into a faith community often happens in stages and with the support of many people. At critical moments, the entire parish community is asked to participate as a person is drawn closer into the prayer life of the church.

On the first Sunday of Lent, catechumens who have not yet received the sacrament of baptism are called forth from the parishes of our diocese by the bishop and their names are inscribed in the Book of the Elect. With the support of their pastors, catechists, mentors and family members, these men and women will continue their preparation to receive the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and Eucharist at the Easter Vigil in their home parishes throughout Lent.

Also, candidates for full communion in the Catholic Church, previously baptized in another Christian denomination, are welcomed at this liturgy as they prepare to profess their faith, be confirmed and receive the Eucharist for the first time at Easter.

The Rite of Election Liturgy is filled with joy and also some tears for those who have spent much time coming to the Catholic Church. During Lent, all of us are asked to pray for the catechumens and the candidates for full communion in our diocese.

The second liturgy I look forward to celebrating in the cathedral every Lent is the chrism Mass, which is celebrated before the beginning of the paschal triduum. At the chrism Mass, the bishop — with the priests of the diocese gathered about him and in the company of the people from all the parishes of the Diocese — blesses the oils for the sacraments, particularly the chrism oil that will be used in baptism and confirmation and in the sacrament of holy orders throughout the coming year.

“In every local church one Christian presides in love and orchestrates the Church’s ministry. This is the bishop or chief pastor. It is not surprising, therefore, that the most ancient liturgical witnesses designate the bishop as the consecrator of the sacramental oils. Although priests once blessed the oil of the catechumens and the sick and again may do so in some circumstances, only the bishop may consecrate the chrism with which the baptized are sealed at confirmation and ordination. This Rite is one of the last rites before the Triduum begins. Before the local Church baptizes it prepares the chrism which will be used in the Vigil” (St. Andrew Bible Missal, p. 295).

The chrism Mass is a very important liturgy of Lent. Our cathedral is filled with priests and deacons, religious and laity and among them many young people preparing for their own later anointing with chrism in confirmation. This year the chrism Mass will be celebrated at the Cathedral of St. Mary in St. Cloud on Thursday, April 2, at 7 p.m.

As we continue our Lenten journey of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, let us also pray for those who will be anointed with the sacred oils in the sacraments of the church this coming year.

I invite you to attend and participate in the chrism Mass this year, and I encourage you to mark your calendars to attend the Rite of Election next Lent. These are sacred and important liturgies for our local church.

“Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart...” (Joel 2: 12).

With these beginning words from the Liturgy of the Word on Ash Wednesday, we commence the season of Lent. It is a time of prayer, of fasting and of almsgiving for us, a time for conversion of heart, a time of reconciliation.

In early January I joined with the bishops of our Province in our annual eight day retreat. I spent a significant part of that retreat reading and praying from a little book by Cardinal Carlo Martini, The Gospel According to St. Paul. In a series of nine essays, perhaps from his retreat talks, the author shared his prayerful reflections on the life and the letters of the Apostle to the Gentiles. In this current year dedicated by Pope Benedict XVI to celebrate the life of St. Paul, I had sent this book to our priests and deacons as a Christmas gift. On retreat, this book became a gift and grace for me as well.

The final chapter in the book is entitled “The Ministry of Reconciliation” and is a reflection on a portion of St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. The Corinthians were not an easy crowd for Paul and in his second letter “sadness and joy, fear and hope, tenderness and indignation vibrate through its pages with equal intensity”. Second Corinthians has become an important inspired word and challenge for those who minister in the Church, for those who have experienced similar emotions along the way.

...all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Cor. 5: 18-19)

Lent is a time for this message of reconciliation. For us who are ordained priests, this season urges us on to provide ample opportunities for the celebration of the Sacrament of Penance in our parishes. Since individual confession remains the norm for receiving the Sacrament of Penance even in communal celebrations, we priests continue to make ourselves generously available for the reconciliation the Sacrament of Penance provides during this Lent.

But beyond the Sacrament of Penance, there is a much broader reality of reconciliation that is so needed today. It is to that all-embracing reconciliation that Cardinal Martini also invites us:

Our ministry is essentially one of encouragement, according to what Paul says: ‘We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.’ I do not mean encouragement in the sense of saying that everything is fine, but that even if thing are not fine, there is hope for you, there is a life of peace and harmony for you, there is a fullness of human and divine satisfaction for you. (P. 121)

How important words of encouragement are for all of us today! How much reconciliation is needed! With all the worries, pressures, and tensions of today, so many relationships are being strained and frayed, be it in families, among co-workers, with neighbors, in parish communities, and even among those involved in ministries. We are so tempted to lose patience! Road rage is a reality, even far off the highways, in families, sometimes even in our parishes.

Even after baptism, personalities remain weakened, although people have the possibility, the grace, of living a new life. We labor under the weakness and the influence of the flesh. Even though the personality is recreated in principle through the cross of Christ and in baptism, its de facto re-creation constitutes a slow process. (P. 120)

Lent is a “slow process” of reconciliation. It takes time in order to tend to and repair relationships. For most of us, we need a life-time of many seasons of Lent for such important and life-changing transformations.

Let yourselves be reconciled to God, to the people around you, to your work, to your sicknesses, to your troubles, to your mental and emotional exhaustion–to everything you dislike in yourselves. Let yourselves be reconciled through reconciliation to God. (P. 121)

“We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Cor. 5: 19)

During these cold, frigid days of January, we move into 2009 with a degree of apprehension because of our strained economy and global issues that involve war, tensions and overall unease. Despite these conditions, we can harbor a spirit of hope for our future. These are not easy times, but I find comfort in knowing that together we have always been able to come together to shoulder the challenges we face.

Our Annual Diocesan Appeal plays a significant role in relieving mounting pressures that affect our diocesan community by offering funding for ministries that individual parishes alone cannot provide. Through the cooperative efforts and generosity of many, all are served. I am grateful to all of you who have made the commitment to support the Appeal for the benefit of our family of faith.

This year’s theme is taken from 1 Chronicles, “Now, our God, we give you thanks.” Whether we are experiencing hardships or blessings at this time, we are called to give and to show gratitude to God for all that we have received. Today, more than ever, we rely on our faith and our gifts to keep our diocese vibrant.

Undoubtedly you or someone you know has experienced the benefits of one of the vital ministries funded by the Appeal. I am pleased that once again the television Mass reaches most of the people in our diocese. Some will be at home, unable to get out due to age or health issues, some men and women will be in nursing homes or hospitals recovering from illnesses or in the last steps of their journey in this life. The Mass has been a tremendously important part of their lives, and it is still available to them through the efforts of the people in the Office of Communications and because of many of the people in our diocese who financially support the Annual Diocesan Appeal.

Each year, Father Gregory Mastey, vocations director, spends hours meeting with our young people to talk about God’s call in their lives. The discernment process requires time and guidance. We currently have 17 young men studying for the priesthood. You can also be part of this ministry to call forth vocations through your contributions to the Annual Appeal.

Just as priests are critical to the life in our diocese, so is the strength of our marriages. The marriage courses offered through the Office of Marriage and Family include instructors who have wrestled with many of these issues during their own married lives. They bring the reality that marriage is hard work but work with tremendous rewards. Giving young people a good start to their marriage is part of what you can accomplish with your financial gift to the Annual Appeal.

This week we are celebrating Catholic Schools Week. Throughout our diocese, children are in the process of learning in all areas and being formed in their Catholic faith. Religious education in our schools and religious education classes in parishes are a means by which we pass on the faith. Both receive assistance in their efforts from Catholic Education Ministries.

We see children influenced by outside sources whether through movies, television, the Internet or peer pressure. By your gift to the Annual Appeal, you become part of the educational process that helps our children to be well-grounded in their faith.

Each year, I ask for your support of the Annual Diocesan Appeal, and each year I am edified by your response. Again, this year, we face many challenges, but these challenges can become opportunities with our combined efforts. I invite you to join me in making a gift to the Appeal — a gift that is proportionate to your income so that we may meet the needs of our brothers and sisters throughout our diocese. Please be part of this effort.

A Shepherd’s Care
September 2008

Election is opportunity to put Catholic faith to work

The political conventions have finally ended, and the nominees of each party have been selected. Now each of us must sort through the rhetoric and campaign promises and take on the very important privilege and responsibility as citizens of this United States of preparing ourselves to cast our vote in the coming election.

It is not the role of your bishop or your priests to tell you which candidate to choose when you enter your polling booth. However, the church does offer moral guidance and principles from sacred Scripture and our tradition to assist us in forming our consciences, and it gives us a clear moral framework for the decisions we need to make in November.

The church teaches that we have an obligation and a responsibility to bring our faith commitment to the protection and defense of every human life and our deep concern for the poor and most vulnerable into the public arena.

Building a better world
This election year brings with it another opportunity for each of us to put our Catholic faith to work in order to build a better world. As Catholic people, we need to “see beyond party politics, to analyze campaign rhetoric critically and to choose political leaders according to principle, not party affiliation or mere self-interest” (USCCB, “Living the Gospel of Life,” No. 34).

Last February Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta spoke powerful and caring words in a homily to the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington, D.C.:

“ As Catholics, we are obliged to promote the common good as rooted in our baptismal commitment to follow Jesus Christ. ... We are not another lobby but a community that serves the poor and vulnerable every day. We are not an interest group, nor are we advocating our own narrow interests, but speaking for the voiceless and standing up for the common good. We go not to serve our own needs but to serve the ‘least of these,’ who we believe to be Jesus in their persons.” (Origins, March 27, 2008, p.658).

Later, in that same homily, Archbishop Gregory said:
“ We may not know the ins and outs of Washington … but we do know this:
• The lives of unborn children need protection.
• Poor children need justice.
• Families need affordable health care.
• Immigrants need to be treated as sisters and brothers, not enemies.
• The hungry of the world need food.
• Those living and dying with HIV/AIDS need compassionate care.
• The people of the Holy Land need a just peace.
• The unending war in Iraq requires a responsible transition.
• And we need a world that is not only safer, but better and more just.”

I have read and reread this list many times over these past weeks, as I listened to the convention speeches. I am going to use this list as my guide to help me decide how I will cast my vote this November. I encourage you to do the same.
Principles over polls

In the November 2007 statement “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” we U.S. bishops urged Catholics to vote:
• focused more on moral principles than on the latest polls;
• focused more on the needs of the weak than on the benefits for the strong;
• focused more on the pursuit of the common good than on the demands of narrow interests (No. 61).

A few days ago, someone of our diocese casually remarked to me that he was not going to vote this year because he did not really like any of the candidates. I write this column for him and any others like him. I pray that your hearts and minds be changed and you vote with an informed conscience based on our faith.
God’s work on earth is now in our hands. We must be “faithful citizens,” acting in hope, sharing God’s love.

A Shepherd’s Care
April 2008

May Pope Benedict inspire us with ‘a new springtime’

My brothers and sisters in Christ,

In the Liturgy of the Word his past Sunday, April 13, we listened to a reading from an early sermon of Peter from the Acts of the Apostles:
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed: “... know for certain that God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. ... Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call.” (2:14a, 36-41)

Those fiery words of Saint Peter help us realize the significance of what Jesus had done much earlier at Caesarea Philippi:
He asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16: 13-19)

With Jesus’ words to Peter ringing in our ears, it is our joy in these days to welcome to our country the successor of the fisherman Peter, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. As Bishop of Rome and Vicar of Christ, he is the “visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful.” (Lumen Gentium # 23)

The theme of the Holy Father’s visit to us is “Christ, Our Hope.” His latest encyclical as Holy Father in 2007 was on Christian hope:
“ ... the Gospel is not merely a communication of things that can be known — it is one that makes things happen and is life-changing. The dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life.” (Spe Salvi, # 2) Since his arrival Tuesday, the Holy Father has been in Washington, D.C., the nation’s capitol. He met with President Bush, gathered with and addressed the bishops of the United States, spoke to educators from all the dioceses and Catholic colleges and universities of our country and dialogued with religious leaders of other faiths. In New York, Pope Benedict will speak to the General Assembly of the United Nations, meet and pray with young people, priests, religious and seminarians, pray with the Jewish community, and visit Ground Zero. In both cities huge open-air celebrations of the Eucharist will afford thousands the opportunity to gather with our Holy Father around the Table of God’s Word and the Table of the Holy Eucharist.

However we are able to connect with the many events of his visit here, the pastoral presence and teaching of Pope Benedict XVI to our country is a tremendous gift and grace for all of us. May his time with us and his words inspire in us a “new youthfulness, a new springtime” for our Diocese of Saint Cloud and for the Church throughout the United States!

+John F. Kinney
Bishop of Saint Cloud

A Shepherd’s Care
March 2008

Leave the gloomy tomb of sin, live in Christ

During this Lent we have been praying with the Church to God: “....we are joyful in your Word, your Son Jesus Christ, who reconciles us to you.” (Fourth Sunday Opening Prayer) Would that these are not just words you and I say during the Liturgy but faith convictions deep within our hearts.

Jesus seeks to fill us with joy and reconciliation. The Sunday Gospels this Lent have helped us realize the joy Jesus offers to us. Imagine the joy Peter, James and John must have felt seeing Jesus shining, glorified and transfigured on the mountaintop. Grasp the wonderment of the Samaritan woman as she encountered Jesus who quenched her thirst at the well. Plumb the depths of the healing of the blind man as Jesus mudded his eyes and gave him for the first time sight and light. Fathom the feelings of relief of Martha and Mary as Jesus gave life to the dead Lazarus.

Jesus gives joy, wonderment, healing and forgiving reconciliation in our lives as well. The Paschal Mystery enables us to live a new life in Christ. The death and resurrection of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit give us the opportunity to become a new creation through living the Gospel and the sacraments in the Church. We thank Christ for new life in the waters of Baptism, for the Spirit’s opening of our eyes in Confirmation to witness to Christ our light and for allowing us glimpses of the glory of the risen Christ at the Sunday Eucharist. Life in Christ allows us to leave our gloomy, dismal tombs of sin and death. What the people in the Sunday Gospels experienced in the distant past, you and I are able to live day in and day out in our faith life in the Church.

This Easter offers us the great opportunity again to pledge “yes” to the Risen Christ in living our baptismal promises, promises the catechumens make the first time this Easter Vigil. We welcome them and the Candidates entering Full Communion and we rejoice with them.

The Lenten Collect quoted at the beginning of this column ends with the words: “Let us hasten toward Easter with the eagerness of faith and love.”

I pray we are excited, enthused and filled with joy as we hurry to Easter. I hope we are always thrilled to share in the new life of Jesus Christ. What a joy to join with those first disciples in proclaiming, “We have seen the Lord.”

Bishop Alphonse Sowada joins me in wishing you the peace of the Risen Christ this Easter.

+John F. Kinney
Bishop of Saint Cloud

A Shepherd’s Care
February 5, 2008

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

With Ash Wednesday we begin the season of Lent. Ashes from last year’s burnt palms are placed on our foreheads with the words, “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.” Those words echo what Jesus proclaimed at the very beginning of his public ministry, “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” (Mark 1:15)

Lent is rather like an annual retreat to help us prepare for the coming great feast, the Easter Triduum. During Lent Christ touches us individually. Jesus asks us to change, to repent and transform our lives more deeply to live his Gospel.

Turning away from sin is a challenge for us. It is difficult to admit that we are not fully living the Gospel of Jesus as we promised at Baptism. But Lent is not about discouragement or despair. Lent is always about God’s generous mercy!

Fortunately, in the Church we do not have to face our sins and failures alone. Lent is about the community seeking repentance. The entire Church is called to prayer, fasting and almsgiving during these days. As a community we live according to the Gospel and so together we strive to be more faithful to Christ.

During Lent throughout our diocese, we are so encouraged as many of our sisters and brothers in the faith attend daily Mass in their parish communities. On Fridays, many of the faithful make the Stations of the Cross, walking in the footsteps of Jesus. Remembering the passion and death of Jesus, together on the Fridays of Lent we abstain from meat and, when Good Friday comes, we spend this sacred day in fasting. Throughout this season we have many opportunities to experience the mercy and forgiveness of God in the sacrament of Penance.

Of course, the highlights of Lent are the Sunday Liturgies when we come together as a community of faith. Here we rediscover the mercy of God in the Liturgy of the Word and the celebration of the Eucharist. Here we strive to become more merciful with the Risen Christ in the Liturgy.

At the Sunday Liturgy during Lent we also pray for and welcome the catechumens and the candidates for full communion who are entering the body of Christ, the Church, at the coming Easter.

This Lent, Pope Benedict XVI urges us to reflect on almsgiving. “Lent invites us to ‘train ourselves’ spiritually also through the practice of almsgiving, in order to grow in charity and recognize in the poor Christ Himself. ... In giving also, we offer something material, a sign of the greater gift that we impart to others through the announcement and witness of Christ. ...” (Benedict XVI, 2008 Lenten Message, # 6).

May this season of Lent help us to be more like Christ!
+John F. Kinney
Bishop of Saint Cloud

Preparing for Christmas the Advent way
These days we commence a new liturgical year of grace with the season of Advent. With the Church we begin a cycle of liturgy and prayerful reflection to help us again realize more fully the powerful saving measures God is taking with us, especially the gift of Jesus Christ among us.

Humanly speaking, we are often slow to catch on. Thus it takes most of us many Advents, multiple Christmases, a host of seasons of Lent, Easter and Pentecost in our lives to comprehend how great is God's constant, loving initiative to save us. Jesus has come to let us experience how God loves us and to invite us into the communion of God's life, a life full of love with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! But how many Advents do we have?

Thankfully, the Church liturgical year keeps returning annually to help us plunge more deeply into the unfolding reality of God's presence among us and the Lord's constant love for us! Thus this coming year we again reflect on Jesus Christ among us and how we are to respond to God's gift of grace and salvation in our lives. This year the Gospel of St. Matthew will help us open our hearts more fully to Jesus and God's life.

For us, Advent really has a double meaning! Even while we are being bombarded to spend December decorating, spending and shopping, the Church season of Advent helps us prepare for the Christmas feast in a different way, by rekindling in us a sense of the watching and waiting as our ancestors did for the Messiah's first coming into our world.

The Advent season also urges us to be ready and waiting for Jesus' Second Coming at the end of time!

"We do not preach only one coming of Christ, but a second as well, much more glorious than the first. The first coming was marked by patience, the second will bring the crown of a divine kingdom. ... At the first coming he was wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. At his second coming he will be clothed in light. ... In the first coming he endured the cross; ... in the second coming he will be in glory. ...”
St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Instruction, The Liturgy of the Hours, Advent, page 142

I am fairly uncomfortable thinking about the Second Coming of Christ in my own life! Perhaps the same is true for you. Thus, as hard as it may be, this Advent can help us learn to wait patiently, stay alert, watch and be ready for Christ. We do not know when Christ will come but we want to be ready for the Lord! Advent helps us be ready and eager!

In the closing verses of the Book of Revelation, the sacred author records the Lord Jesus saying: "Yes, I am coming soon!" Then the Scriptures conclude with the words: "Amen! Come, Lord Jesus." (22: 20) May those same words be our daily refrain and prayer throughout this Advent season: "Amen! Come, Lord Jesus."

A blessed Advent to you.

+John F. Kinney
Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud

A Shepherd's Care
October 2007

My dear friends in Christ,

The Strategic Pastoral Plan for the Diocese of Saint Cloud "to 2010 and Beyond" was truly a milestone in the history of our diocese and in the life of the church here in central Minnesota. In this plan that was promulgated in the year 2000, you were all invited to respond to some exciting challenges and opportunities that the church has been facing since the changes that followed the Second Vatican Council. And you responded most willingly.

As I said when we initiated that strategic plan, nothing is written in stone. And these past seven years have proven that statement to be correct. Our strategic plan has truly been a work in progress that seems to experience constant change. You may recall that two years ago 15 parishes in the St. Cloud metro area were involved in a process of planning for pastoral ministry in their parishes. This process involved two lay people and the pastor from each of those parishes. They ultimately gave me a proposal that is now being implemented in the St. Cloud metro area. Despite the challenges associated with change, things seem to be positively moving forward. I share this with you today, because it will ultimately involve all of you throughout the Diocese of Saint Cloud.

A similar planning process is now being done with 11 parishes in the Albany area and with the five parishes in Sherburne County plus the Princeton parish. I look forward to the response from the dedicated lay people who are involved in these two planning processes. The challenge of these two planning groups is to make recommendations as to how their parishes can be served with fewer priests. This is not an easy task. At this time, no decisions have been made as to how the involved parishes will be served. The planning group is intent upon gathering the information from each of the parishes and to make a faith-filled and just recommendation to me.

These groups need your prayers and support. It is never easy to deal with change. You are certainly aware of the feelings of grief and loss connected with drastic changes to a way of life. But sometimes changes need to occur for the good of all. This just may be such a time. By having fewer priests who will be available to serve parishes in the Diocese of Saint Cloud, we all need to look at a new way of being church.

I am hopeful that many deacons and lay ecclesial leaders will be able to join the priests and serve in new and exciting ways as ministers to our parishes. This is a combined effort that is, in the words of the ongoing planning groups, "Revisioning Church" for the Diocese of Saint Cloud.

The members of our faith communities have given much for the good of our diocese. I am aware of the sense of loss, and frustration, experienced by the people in some of our parishes, and I am thankful for the generosity of spirit with which they have blessed the Diocese of Saint Cloud.

I ask all of you to please keep our priests, our dedicated parish ministers, those involved in planning for their parishes, all of the faithful, and me, in your prayers. God bless you.

With kind personal regards, I remain,
Sincerely yours in Christ,

+ John F. Kinney,
Bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud

GRATEFUL TO GOD, WE SHARE OUR GIFTS.

January 25, 2007

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The theme for our 31st Annual Diocesan Appeal is “Grateful to God, we share our gifts.” When we understand that all we have has been given to us as a gift, gratitude to God and sharing with others is our natural response.

In years past, over 145,000 friends, neighbors and family members in the 16 counties of our Diocese have benefited from the Annual Diocesan Appeal ministries. Your gifts to the Appeal have funded the pastoral care services that are provided for all of our parishes.
Our youth are a most valuable resource in every parish. Through the Annual Appeal we are providing new tools to reach out to these young people and to find the best ways to guide and transmit our faith from each generation to the next.

Electronic media are a fundamental part of the culture in which we live. The technology of computers — including e-mail, Web sites and multimedia presentations — is recognized within the Annual Appeal and utilized to promote the Gospel and our faith in Jesus Christ for our Youth and Adult Faith Formation.

As well, your financial gifts to the Annual Diocesan Appeal help make it possible to produce the TV mass from our Pastoral Center that reaches countless homebound people each week, enabling them to continue their journey in faith.

The Annual Appeal ministries serve us in ways that a parish may not be able to provide, as a humble extension of the work of Jesus Christ in our world today.

We are all called to do our part to leave this world better than we found it. As good stewards, we are called to receive gratefully and share lovingly.

A proportionate gift to the Annual Diocesan Appeal will allow us to show our appreciation to God for what we have first been given. One percent of your annual income gifted over the coming year will continue this sharing of time, talent and treasure. All gifts that you give prayerfully will help to make a difference.

Thank you in advance for your generosity in providing the financial resources to make our diocesan efforts and ministries supporting our lives possible.

I am grateful to your for your sacrifice and for everything you do for Jesus Christ and the Church.

As I invite you to make your commitment to our Annual Diocesan Appeal today, allow me to also express my most sincere appreciation for your past financial support.

+ John F. Kinney
Bishop of Saint Cloud

Pastoral letter on social justice: