April 2020 Take Advantage of ‘Remote’ Devotions During Pandemic Isolation By Christine Corbett Conklin This is a time for ingenuity for the field. You can also search a specific site The United States Conference of Catholics throughout the world. With such as EWTN (Eternal Word Television Catholic Bishops website (usccb.org) offers so many church doors closed due to the Network). As you’ll see, this Diocese of daily Scripture readings, special prayers coronavirus, we need to work a “to give you hope and strengthen little harder to find remote Masses your spirit” and an extensive list of and other devotions which can help additional free resources. The Vatican to nurture our Faith during this website (vatican.va) includes the Tdifficult time. text of homilies by Pope Francis, an The good news is that there are interesting summary of Popes through many offerings online, on radio and the centuries and (with an Adobe TV, and already in your home which Flash Player) even virtual tours of the can help to give more meaning to basilicas and papal chapels of Rome. each day. The EWTN website (ewtn.com) also On Sundays, Bishop Joseph offers live Eucharistic Devotion. Say Tyson or a priest of the Diocese will the Rosary, perhaps visiting rosary. celebrate a noon Mass in English, online or youtube.com to listen to the which will air live on CW9, available recitation of this special devotion. to the Yakima Valley and Tri-Cities. And don’t forget the resources The Bishop or a priest of the Diocese which are likely available in your also will celebrate Mass in Spanish at 9 a.m. Yakima website offers numerous remote home. Have you always wished that you on Sundays on Hispanavisión, channel 32 Mass choices, based in area parishes. had done more Bible reading? Now is the or 36 over the air in Yakima, and also on Also, the Diocese, with the help of a time to begin reading a chapter or two each cable and satellite. generous grant from the Peter Flanigan day, perhaps beginning with the Gospel Over the past weeks, I have also found Family Foundation, has made the online of St. John or even the book of Psalms or Masses broadcast online from Canada, the Catholic resources found at www.Formed. Proverbs. Or pick up a Catholic book and Vatican, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles org available for free to every parishioner enrich your Faith. with Bishop Robert Barron, and various in our 39 parishes and missions for at Pray daily for those who are ill, parishes in our own Diocese of Yakima. least the next two years. Simply visit the those who have died, and all of the first Beautiful Good Friday devotions were website, click on the link to sign up as a responders who are risking their own broadcast online from a church in Ireland. parishioner, then do a simple zip code health to care for those in need. On your device, there are options search to find your parish and follow Stay tune to the diocesan website in both English and Spanish. There is the instructions. After confirming your or Facebook page for new and timely even a Traditional Latin Mass which is membership through an email, a world of suggestions of devotions. There may never broadcast. Just search: today’s Catholic Catholic movies, radio shows, and teaching be a time like this again in our lives, with Mass or Catholic Mass live, adding any materials can be accessed. so much free time for many of us to fill. If other details such as language preference, There also are many prayers and other we use it wisely, we can find lasting good rite, geographic area, etc., to narrow down devotions available to us all. amidst the tragedy. The Difference Cardinal George Makes By Michael R. Heinlein The fifth anniversary of the death of -Car another side to our ideologically fueled battles of suffering — both of which are clearly in the dinal Francis E. George, OMI, April 17, falls over various doctrines and disciplines. disruption polio brought into his life. in the midst of a global pandemic. The effects I think now what I have often thought in When 13-year-old Francis George con- of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 have the years since his death: What would Cardi- tracted polio, his longtime dream of becom- been experienced both at home and abroad. nal George say? Or, to play off the title of one ing a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago In its wake, we are faced with new difficulties of his most memorable works, What is the was over. Told he couldn’t be ordained there as well as new versions of pain and suffering, difference Cardinal George makes? Without because of his disability, he was devastated. and we wait to see what effects these weeks of putting words in his mouth, I think we can But it didn’t take long for him to find a work- Tsocial distancing, disease and death will have take some educated guesses, based on his life around and, literally saying, “to heck with you not only on us personally but on ecclesial life and legacy. guys,” he went to study at a seminary operated in America. With the suspension of public Be perseverant by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The con- Masses and the limitations placed on the Cardinal George’s life can teach us a great gregation welcomed him with open arms. celebration of sacraments, new forms of dis- deal, especially about the importance of trust- He quickly rose to a series of leadership cord have arisen in the Church, revealing yet ing in divine providence and the acceptance positions in the Oblates, which included Continued on page 4 A Message from Bishop Tyson… Dear Friends: Yes, we also have a natural law obligation Welcome to this second “on-line” edition of and right to protect our borders. But that does the Central Washington Catholic. As you know, not negate or override the natural law obliga- due to the coronavirus contagion we are not tion many of our fellow Catholics exercise when able to gather in our churches, which means they cross here from Mexico in order to support that the usual distribution through the Sunday their families and – sometimes – flee from their parish bulletin is not available. country’s violent drug trade – a trade fueled by I am grateful to Our Sunday Visitor and living beside the world’s largest drug market: D the United States of America. Michael Heinlein for allowing us to re-run his story on the fifth anniversary of the death of Civil law today can often become a theater Francis Cardinal George of Chicago. Many of of competing “rights” and “obligations.” It seems you may still recall him as Bishop George when to me that Cardinal George’s maxim that most he was here in Yakima. theological problems are philosophical in their One of my most fond memories of him was nature holds true today. when I was named Bishop of Yakima. I had just Perhaps the best way to bring forward the finished a fine meal of Vietnamese food with legacy of Cardinal George would be for all of us one of the parishioner families I had come to to better anchor in a convincing way our legiti- know while pastor in Seattle’s south end. My cell mate and diverse political strategies and social phone rang so I pulled my car over. It was Car- opinions in the moral natural law. Perhaps, like dinal George calling to congratulate me. He had Cardinal George, we not only need to bone up story after story about Yakima. He talked for on our catechesis and theology, but our philoso- phy as well. five, then ten, then twenty minutes. I thought to Bishop Joseph Tyson myself that this was a long time for a cardinal to I will close with this final observation. St. be talking to an auxiliary bishop. I thanked him “The answer is simply Catholicism, in all its Augustine pointed out that good flourishes in for his call. He replied, “Well, I have a few more fullness and depth, a faith able to distinguish it- its proximity to evil. The breathtaking acts of stories if you’ve still got time.” The conversation self from any cultures and yet able to transform charity in the face of the coronavirus pan- lasted for about an hour! them all, a faith joyful in all the gifts Christ demic would be a case in point. Similarly, the A second memorable and more poignant wants to give us and open to the whole world he long hours of dedication not only from health conversation took place while he was gravely died to save.” professionals in hospitals and clinics, but health ill. The last of the brothers was leaving La Salle In a follow-up piece in the June 17, 2004 department personnel working in each of our High School in Yakima. While the school would edition of Commonweal magazine, Cardinal counties following up on coronavirus contact continue to flourish under the sponsorship of George regretted his adjective “parasitical” notifications, has been nothing short of extraor- the La Salle Christian Brothers, the witness of just as he objected to the polarizing backlash dinary. their consecrated life in Yakima was ending. I his comments provoked. After explaining the Likewise, who can discount the growth of called Cardinal George to let him know I was distorting limitations of the political labels prayer and the dependence we place on God in celebrating a special Mass at La Salle later that “liberal” and “conservative,” Cardinal George our witness to the life of the unborn? And who day in the gym named after him. We had a went on to note: could possible predict the hidden but power- good conversation that lasted about 15 minutes. “Both conservatism and liberalism, in re- ful acts of generosity directed toward helping I passed on his comments and prayers at the ligion and other fields in America tend to look our many undocumented parishioners who Mass. Little did I know how close to death he on the person as a bundle of desires or dreams, are ineligible for many government assistance was. He died the next day. animal impulses and higher aspirations, which programs? My third strong memory of him was while are synthesized individually by choice and con- Goodness flourishes most in its proximity he was president of the United States Confer- trolled socially by law. Law, therefore, is always to evil. That is a reality for all of us regardless of ence of Catholic Bishops. I was on the adminis- an imposition, an imposition gladly internal- how we serve the Church. It is a reality that we trative committee that he chaired as president. ized in some areas by liberals and in other by ought to notice in our daily lives and make part During a particularly difficult discussion about conservatives.” of our life of prayer. Again, my many thanks to the canonical mission of theology professors, For me, the above reflection by Cardinal so many of you whose lives are congruent with Cardinal George made the observation that George has become one of the most succinct the moral natural law in all of its philosophic most problems in theology are actually prob- and prescient observations for us today. All of and theological beauty. lems in philosophy. Trained academically as a the hot button topics polarizing American poli- With every best wish and blessing, philosopher, Cardinal George had a keen sense tics are from the ambit of civil law. Yet, as Fr. that if we think incorrectly, our theological César Izquierdo, one of our recently ordained Yours in Christ, reflections will also be incorrect as a result. priests, noted when speaking about his own Most Reverend Joseph J. Tyson Comments he made a little over 20 years thesis for his philosophy degree, unless human Bishop of Yakima ago have become prescient for us today. He gave rights for all are rooted in a moral natural law, a homily for a Mass on January 17, 1998 during then human rights remain at the whim of the the National Center for the Laity conference in powerful, whether that power comes from a Central Washington Catholic Chicago. He noted: bullet or a ballot. “Liberal Catholicism is an exhausted The power of the ballot is what legalized APRIL 2020 • Volume 61 • Issue 4 project. Essentially a critique, even a necessary abortion here in Washington State in 1970. But PUBLISHER critique at one point in our history, it is now as I have noted repeatedly, even if Roe vs. Wade Most Rev. Joseph J. Tyson parasitical on a substance that no longer exists. is reversed, abortion will remain legal here MODERATOR It had shown itself unable to pass on the faith in in Washington State since a national reversal its integrity and inadequate, therefore, in offer- would send the question back to the states. Monsignor Robert M. Siler ing the joyful self-surrender called for in Chris- The tyranny of the ballot seems to still reign EDITOR tian marriage, in consecrated life, in ordained supreme over any moral natural law. Christine Corbett Conklin priesthood. It no longer gives life. Somewhat related, those who deny the TRANSLATIONS “The answer, however, is not to be found natural law right of our undocumented who Indiana Blandón in a type of conservative Catholicism obsessed came here specifically to support their families, with particular practices and so sectarian in its undercut the very philosophical foundation in The Central Washington Catholic (ISSN 0195-1831) is outlook that it cannot serve again as a sign of the moral natural law for our resisting the legal published monthly by the Diocese of Yakima, 5301-A unity of all peoples in Christ. civil law for abortion. Tieton Drive, Yakima, WA 98908-3493. If you have been abused or victimized by a member of the Catholic clergy, please believe in the possibility for Submission schedule: Deadline for the submission of hope and help and healing. We encourage you to come forward and speak out. material is at noon on the first day of the month of publication. The Yakima Diocese has a sexual abuse hotline for those who wish to report some incident concerning that issue as regards a bishop, priest, deacon or diocesan employee or volunteer. (888) 276-4490 Email: [email protected] 2 The Holy Eucharist: Absence Should Increase Our Appreciation By Christine Corbett Conklin After weeks with no Masses, the Through the centuries, there have even presence of the Holy Eucharist should take been instances in which the consecrated on new significance for us all. A precious host and wine actually take on the gift which we have perhaps taken for appearance of flesh and blood. One such granted for years, is now missing from our instance was in Lanciano, Italy, in the eighth lives, but with God’s grace, will soon be century. Then, a monk who was doubting available to us again. the true presence of Christ saw actual flesh AThe rich, 2000-year-old tradition of the and blood appear after saying the words Eucharist is at the center of our Catholic of consecration. The Catholic Church Faith. Very Rev. Michael J. Ibach, who serves confirmed this as a miracle and the host and as Judicial Vicar of the Diocese of Yakima, wine, with their amazing appearance, have offered some history of this miraculous gift been preserved to this day. to us. Jesus is sometimes called “the Lamb of God.” The sacrament of Holy Orders, or the The tradition began, he explained, on We must understand that at all Masses priesthood, is another vital element of the that first Holy Thursday when Jesus called today, as at the Last Supper, the substance Last Supper. His disciples together to celebrate the of the bread and wine truly becomes the The 11 disciples (12 minus Judas) who Passover meal common to Jewish custom. body and blood of Christ, through what were present became apostles at the time At this Last Supper, Christ instituted both is called “transubstantiation,” even though of Christ’s Ascension into Heaven, Father the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and the their outward appearance (usually) does not Ibach explained. They were the first in a sacrament of Holy Orders change. continuous chain of bishops and priests who This historic gathering witnessed the “It is not just symbolic, not just a have served the Church to the present day. first consecration of bread and wine, as representation,” Father Ibach stressed. “We The power to consecrate bread and wine at Jesus took bread, blessed it and gave it to have to believe that the words Jesus said, He Mass has been conferred along the line to his disciples, saying “This is my body,” then accomplishes. He does not pretend. What them through ordination. blessed wine and said, “This is my blood.” He says happens …. We are reliving what So, as we look forward to again having He told the disciples, “Do this in memory of happened at the Last Supper.” the Holy Eucharist, remember the miracle it me,” thus instituting the priesthood. The Catholic Church teaches that Christ entails: being able to receive the actual body The Jewish Passover meal celebrates is fully present, body and blood, in either and blood of Christ through consecration freedom from slavery in Egypt, which the host or the precious blood, however performed by ordained clergy of the occurred after a lamb was sacrificed and its there is “fuller significance” in receiving Church. blood put on doors of Jewish homes, saving both, Father noted. (When a person is very “The beauty of the Eucharist is that firstborn children from the “angel of death,” ill, he or she may be given “viaticum,” Holy Jesus has given us a way in which we can Father noted. In the same spirit, at that first Communion in either the form of a few continue to be cared for by God until we Eucharist, “the body and blood of Christ drops of consecrated wine or a small piece get to our promised land in Heaven,” Father became a means of salvation for us,” he said. of the host.) Ibach observed.

3 The Difference Cardinal George MakesContinued from page 1 12 years in Rome as vicar and tribalism. His hope for the general for the congregation. Church is perhaps even more NEWS During those years, Cardinal ambitious now than in 1998 George had many occasions when he first articulated it: from Around the Diocese to visit Oblate missions “The answer is simply Ca- throughout the world. He tholicism, in all its fullness and ‘Light of Hope’ Fund Offers Help traveled down rivers on log depth, a faith able to distinguish The Diocese of Yakima has teamed up with rafts, slept on dirt floors and itself from any cultures and yet Catholic Charities Serving Central Washington to was detained by border au- able to engage and transform shine light into the lives of those who have been thorities, deported and even traumatized by COVID-19. them all, a faith joyful in all the We’re all coping with the uncertainly of caught in crossfire. That he gifts Christ wants to give us and what tomorrow may bring, but some of us are in was so active is no small iro- open to the whole world He died despair. Businesses are closed and paychecks have ny given that archdiocesan to save. The Catholic faith shapes stopped. School is out and children are left without authorities hadn’t thought he Cardinal Francis E. George a church with a lot of room for care. Families who are living paycheck to paycheck would be able to take the bus differences in pastoral approach, have no income, only past-due bills. Housebound to the downtown Chicago seminary. for discussion and debate, for initiatives as seniors are sometimes forgotten when their grown But that Cardinal George ended up find- various as the peoples whom God loves. But, children are busy managing their own lives. ing a religious home with the Oblates was more profoundly, the faith shapes a church The Light of Hope Fund eases the burden clearly the work of providence, for members which knows her Lord and knows her own for children, families, and elders throughout of the congregation take a fourth vow, in addi- identity, a church able to distinguish between Central Washington. One hundred percent of your tion to those of poverty, chastity and obedi- what fits into the tradition that unites her to donation will go to those who are struggling to see ence — that of perseverance. Christ and what is a false start or a distorting light amidst the darkness that this pandemic has As he got older, the effects of post-polio thesis, a church united here and now because caused. disease became more debilitating, and he she is always one with the church throughout Donations may be made by mailing eventually needed a heavy leg brace to stabi- the ages and with the saints in heaven.” contributions to Light of Hope Fund, Catholic lize his walking. As a result, the limp that he During times of crisis, it’s easy for divi- Charities Serving Central Washington, 5301-C had had since childhood became more pro- sions to become even more pronounced. Tieton Drive, Yakima, WA 98908, or pasting nounced. As his sister, Margaret, would recall, Instead of giving in to continued infighting the following link into your web browser: he never went a day without severe pain. But and discord, we would do better to follow https://bit.ly/2ROgXiu. For more information, he didn’t let it define him. As a young victim Cardinal George’s urging toward unity and contact Leanne LaBissoniere at llabissoniere@ of polio, he was given the following advice, catholiccharitiescw.org. let our thoughts, words and deeds be simply which he often shared: “There is always some- Catholic. one who is worse off than you. Don’t ever Grow in discipleship PREPARES Helps Feed Newborn Infants feel sorry for yourself.” He took that advice to “Catholicism is first of all not a set of “I’ve looked everywhere, and all the stores heart and lived it daily. ideas or a collection of causes. It is a way of are out of formula!” The young mother’s voice As we face the unknowns of the coro- life, a way of following Jesus Christ,” Cardinal sounded desperate. She had to have formula; it navirus pandemic, we can look to Cardinal George said. was not possible to switch to breastfeeding. Low- George’s example of great perseverance and When we follow Christ more closely, “it income mothers can get subsidies from WIC, continue, ourselves, to push through this time will not only change the way we think and see, but that does not help them find formula on the of inconvenience, fear and suffering. it will also change the way we live and act. … shelves. “I think adults are buying it for themselves, Understanding the purpose of suffering, Disciples change their way of life in order to in case they run out of milk,” she said. Fortunately, Cardinal George eventually came to explain remain in contact with their master, in our PREPARES had just received a donation of six his crosses as “gifts” and knew that it helped case, Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God and Son cans of formula, and we could help. She was not unite him with the crucified Christ. As he of Mary,” he wrote. the only one in need. Another mother called from once said, “Christianity without the cross is a There is nothing like a time of trial to help Wapato, saying she had only two cans left for her false religion. Jesus is not a good-luck charm; us become better disciples of Jesus Christ. In baby. We brought her more, and she wanted to he is Lord of heaven and earth because he has addition to his post-polio struggles, Cardinal pay for it, but that is not how PREPARES works! laid down his life and taken it up again. In George had two bouts with the cancer that If anyone wants to donate in this difficult time, the our suffering, we trust that He will take our ultimately led to his death. The sufferings of Diocese and Catholic Charities are teaming up to lives and our deaths into his. Participating in his life were not obstacles to his discipleship, create the Light of Hope fund, just for this kind Christ’s suffering releases us from the impedi- however. Rather than serving to embitter him, of need. Paste this link into your web browser: ments we place to his love.” they were opportunities for him to grow in his https://bit.ly/3bkEkIz. Be simply Catholic relationship with the Lord and conform his Cardinal George was a man of intense life more closely to his. Engaged Encounter Set for Ellensburg curiosity, expansive breadth of knowledge Cardinal George lived his life with the While the April Catholic Engaged Encounter and a deep, abiding faith. And he was greatly knowledge that God made each of us to be weekend had to be canceled due to the coronavirus concerned about the divisions within the holy and lived accordingly. “We are here to pandemic, there is still a chance the weekend Church. Rather than dwelling within the become saints,” he said. “Everything else is of scheduled for June 12-14 will be held at the Lazy very, very secondary importance.” F Camp and Retreat Center in Ellensburg. If the realm of “liberal or conservative,” he preferred weekend needs to be canceled, couples will be the dichotomy of “true or false.” There is so much we can learn from Car- notified promptly and encouraged to contact their Cardinal George was impatient with the dinal George, even five years after his death. pastors to explore other options. extremes of either “side,” saying that, “for too His perseverance amid suffering, his pursuit Weekend presentations by two married many, politics is the ultimate horizon of their of truth and proclamation of who Christ is, couples and a priest offer techniques for better thinking and acting.” his ability to read the signs of the times and communication, solving disagreements and more “We’ve sometimes reduced the Church to his hope that the Church can be more true that will help couples work together to prepare not a set of ideas rather than an encounter with to its mission: that is the difference Cardinal simply for a wedding, but for a lifetime of married Jesus Christ and with his brothers and sisters George can make in our present moment. As life. in our parishes, our diocese and the world. much as when he was alive, Cardinal George The cost of the weekend is $315 per couple, Church becomes a debating society, people remains to be a man for our times. which includes housing and meals. For more take sides and rack up points,” he once said. Reprinted with permission. https://bit. information or to register, contact Catholic By the way he lived, taught and governed, ly/3bl6q6j. Michael R. Heinlein is editor of Engaged Encounter of Central Washington at (509) Cardinal George put into practice what he SimplyCatholic.com and author of a forth- 528-4653 or [email protected]. called “simply Catholicism,” a robust vision coming biography of Cardinal Francis E. for ecclesial faith and life, devoid of polemics George, OMI. 4