DAKOTA CATHOLIC ACTION Volume 72, Number 11 The Catholic Voice for the Diocese of Bismarck December 2013 INDEX From the Bishop’s Desk ......................2 Obituary ............................................3 THIRST 2013 ................................7-11 Balancing Church and State ..............14 Making Sense out of Bioethics ..........15 Calendar of Events ...........................15 Dolan, left, commended the people of western N.D. for “taking church participation seriously” and not being “afraid to bring that faith to witness in the public square.” He is pictured with Bismarck Bishop David Kagan, center, and University of Mary President Msgr. James Shea. (Photo by Jerald Anderson, University of Mary) 7,000 gather to greet After the birth of her first child, Fulwiler, above, realized Cardinal Dolan in Bismarck there were “some real problems with atheism.” (Photo by Matthew Kurtz) Dolan: Soul, mind and heart necessary to pass on our faith By Matthew Kurtz him, did it?” A packed main arena of the Bismarck Civic Benedict XVI is an example of the mind From atheism Center filled with applause on Saturday, Oct. 26 needed by the Church, since he “taught us so as Cardinal Timothy Dolan walked down the beautifully in such clear, crisp, cogent language to Catholicism center aisle to deliver his keynote address at the that reason and faith are not enemies, but Mother of six shares powerful THIRST 2013 Eucharistic Conference. pretty darn good friends,” Dolan said. conversion story at THIRST Dolan, the current Archbishop of New York He “revived the intellectual wattage” of the and former president of the United States Con- Church, Dolan argued, which, in turn, empha- By Roxane B. Salonen ference of Catholic Bishops, used his trademark sizes to the secular culture that “the Church is When she was in elementary school, wit and humor during his presentation, which in the business of saying yes to everything that Jennifer Fulwiler played a little prank by included a ceremony to award him an honorary is good and noble and decent and uplifting and moving all the Bibles in the library to the degree from the University of Mary. liberating in the human spirit. The only time fiction section. “You know what we call this in New York? that the Church says no is to another no: some- “I thought that was the most edgy, athe- A three-collection crowd!” Dolan joked as the thing that negates human dignity.” ist joke the fourth grade had ever seen,” crowd of approximately 7,000 burst into laugh- Drawing on his personal experiences with Fulwiler told those gathered in the Civic ter. Pope Francis (since he was a part of the con- Center arena recently for THIRST 2013. His keynote address, titled “Go Teach All clave that elected him), Dolan said “we have a Having grown up without belief, but Nations: Passing the Treasure of Faith on to the pope with a heart like the most Sacred Heart with a father who encouraged her to “al- Next Generation,” proposed that in order to of Jesus…who has radar for those at the side of ways seek truth and question assumptions,” ensure the viability of the Catholic faith for the the road.” Fulwiler felt herself thriving in the atheistic future, all people need to strive to use their soul, Near the end of his address, the Cardinal culture at the University of Texas, Austin, mind and heart. commended the people of western N.D. for where she attended college. Dolan drew on the lives of the three most their visible soul, mind and heart. “We liked to think tough thoughts that recent popes of the Catholic Church to demon- “In this Diocese of Bismarck you’ve got the Christians supposedly weren’t think- strate how they embodied these three necessary families who take Sunday Mass and church par- ing,” she said, “but I began noticing some attributes. Blessed John Paul II (who served as ticipation seriously, who raise their children in problems would come up that we couldn’t pope from 1978-2005) demonstrates the soul, the faith and are not afraid to bring that faith to answer. For example, how do we know that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (2005-Feb. 2013) witness in the public square. That’s the primacy being a good person is the right thing to embodies the mind, and Pope Francis (March of the soul, Bismarck…and you have got it in do?” 2013-present) exemplifies the heart, Dolan spades. Deducing a moral code was a recurring argued. “What about the [mind]? From what I’ve conundrum among atheists, she said. Blessed John Paul II, who will be canonized learned about the University of Mary and from Then she met her husband, Joe, a non- a saint on April 27, 2014, “lost everything of what I saw firsthand last night, you’ve got a practicing Christian who, with several earthly value,” Dolan mentioned. His mother, place where God’s glory is certainly evident degrees from Ivy League schools, chal- father and siblings all died relatively early in because those students and that faculty are fully lenged her notion that Christianity and his life. Yet, his heart rested in God. After being alive. intelligence don’t mesh. elected pope, his first message to the Church “What about the heart? I don’t care what the Through him, Fulwiler opened to the was “do not be afraid,” which demonstrated his New York Times says. You have given a sterling possibility of the supernatural, but it took “confidence and intestinal fortitude that came light to the world in the tenderness of the heart the birth of their first son a year after their from the soul,” said Dolan. that you have for the least among us, namely “He allowed us to watch him die,” Dolan ex- the baby in the womb. North Dakota, thank Continued on Page 3 plained. “The slow Parkinson’s eventually froze you for your heart, which breaks for the fragile him and paralyzed him…and it didn’t stop heartbeat of the baby in the womb.” • Dakota Catholic Action December 2013 BISHOP’S SCHEDULE FROM THE BISHOP’S DESK Bishop David D. Kagan, D.D., P.A., J.C.L. DECEMBER 2013 Dec. 1 • Confirmation, Church of St. Mary, Advent: Preparing for Bismarck, 2 p.m. Dec. 8 • Confirmation at Church of eternity and walking St. Agnes, Kenmare; includes with the saints St. Anthony, Donnybrook, 11 a.m. Dec. 11 • Presbyteral Council Meeting, ith the celebration of the first the birth of our Lord Jesus, but please do not Center for Pastoral Ministry, Sunday of Advent, we Catholics allow them to overshadow your Advent season Bismarck, 10 a.m. celebrate the beginning of our of spiritual and temporal preparation for His new year of grace and favor from birth. Please make an effort to pray each day of Dec. 12 • Light of Christ Catholic Schools Wthe Lord—and we do so by spending the first Advent. If you can, go to Mass more often dur- Board meeting, Center for Pastoral four weeks doing two things. These two things ing the week, set aside some of the money you Ministry, Bismarck, 1:15 p.m. are meant to help us refocus our lives of faith intend to spend on other things and donate it on just one thing: our eternal destiny. to the poor of your parish and community, and Dec. 13 • Home on the Range Board The first thing we do in the Advent season is make a good and complete confession of sins. meeting, Center for Pastoral to better prepare ourselves for eternity, which This will unite the two things we Catholics do Ministry, Bismarck, 12 p.m. we do with the help of sacred Scripture and during Advent as I noted above. the selected Mass prayers. We are reminded in Spending our Advent in this way will prepare Dec. 18 • 50th Anniversary of Priestly so many beautiful ways of what Almighty God us to hear with greater clarity the announce- Ordination of Francis Cardinal has already done for us — but also what He has ment of the angels, the news of great joy. Like George, OMI, Chicago promised to do for us in the future. Advent re- the shepherds and the Magi, we must go to Him minds us of how the theological virtues of faith, without delay and with haste. We must gaze Dec. 25 • Midnight Christmas Mass, hope and charity possess and lift us up to Him upon Him and lay the gift of our lives before Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, if we will only let them. Him. Christmas, the birth of our Lord, not only Bismarck, 12 a.m. The second thing we do in the Advent sea- completes our Advent but immediately points • Christmas Mass at State son, again with the help of sacred Scripture and us to Good Friday and Easter Sunday. As the Penitentiary, Bismarck, 8 a.m. the selected Mass prayers, is to relive those won- saying goes, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” derfully thrilling days in the lives of the saints However, He is not only the reason for the Dec. 27 • Serra Club Luncheon Municipal of Advent when the good and most high God season, He is our Savior. His swaddling clothes Country Club, Bismarck, revealed His plan of salvation to our Blessed and His wooden manger remind us of the wood 11:30 a.m. Lady and Saint Joseph, to Saint Elizabeth and of His Cross, His shroud, and the stable re- Saint Zechariah. As we relive these myster- minds us of His tomb. Dec. 29 • Feast of the Holy Family, Mass ies, hopefully we are renewed in our faith and May each of you have a most blessed Advent at Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, hope.