Not Only Did God Lead Me out of Columbine, He Was Leading Me to Himself.”
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VOLUME XCV - NO. 7 | 119 YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE GOSPEL | APRIL 27-MAY 10, 2019 www.DenverCatholic.org | @DenverCatholic | www.facebook.com/DenverCatholic | [email protected] ACA Campaign » Parish Spotlight » Perspective » LEARN MORE: Lead others to Christ Loveland parish has deep Meeting the God of with a generous gift roots in growing community Mercy in Notre Dame mtyr.org BY MARK HAAS [email protected] Not only did God @markhaastv lead me out of Columbine, very school day for almost two “ years, Jenica Thornby would E spend her lunch hour in the he was leading me library at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Every day, except to himself.” April 20, 1999. “I was sitting in my art class when all of the sudden I had this urge to leave school. I remember thinking, there is no way I am going to be talked into staying.” Thornby found her friend that she always studied with and talked her into leaving too. As they drove away in a car her father had bought her just a week earlier, behind them they saw hundreds of other stu- dents running out of the school. Thinking it was maybe a fi re FROM drill, Thornby kept driving. Back inside the school, two students had entered with guns, where they would kill 12 students and a teacher, and wound over 20 more people, COLUMBINE before taking their own lives. In the days that followed, Thornby would learn that many of the casualties took place in the library, where on any other day she would have been sitting. “I remember thinking, I always TO CHRIST went to the library, and the only reason I wasn’t there was because Sister Mary Gianna I had this urge to leave. That was really hard to wrap my mind shares how she found God around, and so I really wondered, ‘What gave me that urge, why after narrowly missing the wasn’t I there?’” Two decades later, Thornby Columbine massacre 20 years ago is now Sister Mary Gianna, DLJC, and on the 20th Anniversary PHOTO BY ANYA SEMENOFF » Bethlehem Handicrafts Carving by HAND for over 300 years! OLIVE WOOD Over 1,000 handcrafted Archbishop Aquila blesses new store pieces on display BEAUTIFUL ONE OF A KIND GIFTS 4114 S Parker Rd SCAN ME www.BethlehemHandicrafts.com 720-201-7193 2 APRIL 27-MAY 10, 2019 | DENVER CATHOLIC Archbishop’s Page Archbishop’s Column Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila Fighting the darkness: Notre Dame and acts of faith Redemptoris Mater Seminaries. I annual appeal shine forth. The fruit frequently hear from people about we bear constantly reminds us that how impressed they are with our Jesus is truly risen and that he lives seminarians and their witness to the among us. We are able, through your faith. This is a tribute to the dedicated generosity, to bring the love of Jesus e orts of the formators and profes- Christ to hundreds of thousands of sors at our two seminaries. people in a world that is desperately There are nearly 40 ministries that searching for it. I invite you to prayer- benefi t from the appeal, so the impact fully consider how God is calling you of their witness is much more exten- to join this e ort. sive than my brief description. Just Thank you for your generous and as the unfolding of the fi re at Notre sacrifi cial support of the Archbishop’s Dame cathedral demonstrated the Catholic Appeal. May God bless you impact of faith and beauty on so many this Easter season and help you be a people, so, too, does the fruit of the light to the world! PHOTO BY NISSA LAPOINT @ArchbishopDen Apr. 21 hen the famous cathedral Next weekend, May 4-5, we will of Notre Dame de Paris launch the annual Archbishop’s Cath- Christ is Risen! Our hearts cry out in joy Alleluia, for W went up in fl ames last olic Appeal in all the parishes of the our God is faithful to his promises! May the heart week, you could see and hear the pain Archdiocese of Denver. This appeal in the faces and voices of the onlook- provides the people of northern Col- of every human being open to the eternal love of ers. People spontaneously gathered orado with their chance to testify to the Father revealed in Jesus! Pray for those killed along the banks of the Seine River to the gift of faith and be a light to the & wounded in Churches & hotels in #SriLanka! sing the Hail Mary, paying tribute to world. the importance of Our Lady and the The charity of thousands of people gift of faith. in our archdiocese is already appar- PHOTO OF THE WEEK I, too, remembered the times I ent. Through our homeless shelters, prayed in the Cathedral and celebrated a safe place to sleep was provided for Mass there, and especially the adora- more than 200,000 nights in 2018. tion chapel. The sheer beauty of Notre Our a ordable housing system helped Dame and the feats of skill involved restore dignity by supplying housing in its construction over 800 years ago for almost one million residents. We always fi lled me with wonder. also fed the hungry, o ering 612,158 Paris fi re brigade chaplain Father meals to those in need. Our St. Rapha- Jean-Marc Fournier also gave witness el’s Counseling ministry was able to to the gift of faith when he rescued begin the healing process by counsel- the relics of the Crown of Thorns, ing 667 clients, totaling thousands of the Blessed Sacrament and numer- hours of care. ous other sacred objects. He told the These e orts demonstrate our love French magazine Famille Chrétienne for Christ in the needy. But the Arch- that when he rescued the Blessed bishop’s Catholic Appeal also brings Sacrament it was “an act of faith. … I the gift of faith to countless people asked Jesus — and I really believe he in our parishes and local commu- is present in these hosts — to fi ght the nities. The O¢ ce of Evangelization fl ames and preserve the building ded- and Family Life Ministries trains icated to his mother.” The tragedy of catechists, youth ministers and parish the Notre Dame fi re has brought forth sta in e ective evangelization, these acts of witness to the faith. provides retreats and helps engaged It was also inspiring to see the couples prepare for a happy, lifelong outpouring of pledges for rebuilding marriage. The Leadership Institute Notre Dame that followed the blaze. and other e orts of this o¢ ce make Taken together, this spiritual and valuable contributions to help create Archbishop S muel J. Aquil confi rms confi rm ndi during the E ster monetary support shows that even a culture of missionary discipleship in M ss t the C thedr l B silic of the Imm cul te Conception April 21. if people are far from the faith or not our archdiocese. PHOTO BY DANIEL PETTY even Christian, we are all made for Perhaps the two ministries that beauty and therefore the ultimate have the most direct impact on par- ARCHBISHOP’S SCHEDULE source of all that is true, good and ishes and are funded through the APR. 28: Confi rmation Mass, Sts. Peter and MAY 3: Confi rmation Mass, St. Thomas More, beautiful, God himself. appeal are St. John Vianney and Paul, Wheat Ridge (2:00 p.m.) Centennial (6:30 p.m.) DENVER CATHOLIC | APRIL 27-MAY 10, 2019 3 World & Nation Sri Lanka Easter attacks draw international condemnation, prayer for victims BY CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY capital, Colombo, and in Negombo, a city 20 miles to its north. At the same eligious and civil leaders have time, a bomb exploded at a service at the responded with condolences, evangelical Zion Church in Batticaolo, R prayer, and calls for justice after on Sri Lanka’s east coast. several explosions at churches and Pews were shattered by the blast at St. hotels in Sri Lanka killed more than Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo, and floors 200 people and injured hundreds more and ceilings were covered in blood. The on Easter Sunday. Catholic shrine is the most well-known Calling it “a very, very sad day for church in Sri Lanka and is designated all of us,” Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the country’s national shrine. The first Archbishop of Colombo, canceled all chapel on the Church property was built remaining Easter Masses for the day during Sri Lanka’s Dutch colonial period, in the Colombo district. when Catholicism was mostly forbidden At the conclusion of his Urbi et on the island. Orbi address on Easter Sunday, Pope There were also explosions Sunday Francis said the violence in Sri Lanka morning at three luxury hotels in has brought “grief and sorrow” to the Colombo, and explosions outside a zoo people there. and a private home Sunday afternoon. “I wish to express my aectionate The island nation, which is home to closeness to the Christian community, a population of more than 21 million, struck while it was gathered in prayer, has been plagued with periodic violence and to all the victims of such cruel vio- since its 26-year civil war concluded lence,” he said. in 2009. More than 70 percent of Sri “I entrust to the Lord all those who Lankans are Buddhists, roughly 13 have tragically perished,” he said, percent are Hindus, almost 10 percent adding his prayers for those who are are Muslims, and fewer than 8 percent injured and suering from the attacks.