Father Guillermo Trevino Catolicos participan en una novena bilingue de Las Posadas en la parroquia de Santa Maria en Davenport 17 de diciembre.
La tradición de Las Posadas, comienza con la novena el 16 de diciembre y termina en Nochebuena. Durante muchos años esta tradición se ha celebrado en parroquias, comunidades en México y Guatemala y, cada vez más, en los Estados Unidos donde se encuentran muchos católicos hispanos. Mi primera experiencia en Las Posadas fue cuando era seminarista en el Seminario de Mundelein. Desde entonces, he sido bendecido sirviendo en parroquias donde Las Posadas reúnen tanto a la comunidad hispana y anglo por igual, en vísperas a la celebración del nacimiento de Nuestro Salvador.
La noche comienza en la Iglesia con la oración del Rosario. Mientras se reza el Rosario, se lleva a cabo una procesión que recorre los vecindarios, va de casa en casa, de puerta en puerta dentro de la Iglesia. María y José, seguidos por los peregrinos en procesión, van en búsqueda de una posada donde podría nacer el niño Jesús. En el camino, las canciones que se entonan, relatan la desafortunada situación de María y José, que no pudieron encontrar un lugar para quedarse. Finalmente, sin embargo, María y José regresan a la Iglesia donde son recibidos con una canción jubilosa y de gran alegría.
El significado de Las Posadas está en el corazón de la historia de la Navidad. No había lugar en la posada, sin embargo, Cristo desea nacer de nuevo en cada corazón humano. A medida que se acerca la Navidad, ¿cuáles son esas cosas innecesarias que están ocupando espacio en nuestros corazones? ¿Cuáles son esos apegos, temores y preocupaciones que debemos abandonar para dejar espacio a Cristo en nuestras vidas? Al acercarse la Navidad, recemos por la gracia de hacer de nuestros corazones una Posada donde Cristo pueda morar, ofreciéndonos su paz, su alegría, su amor y el resplandor de su Divina Luz.
(Padre Richmond es pastor de la parroquia de Santa María y San Matías en Muscatine)
In his Advent message, Bishop Thomas Zinkula challenged the people of the diocese to “move from maintenance to mission, from just resting on what has been to rejoicing in what might be.” This challenge came after reminding us that sometimes “as individuals, parishes and even a diocesan church, we can get stuck in maintenance mode, in just keeping things running as they are, in complacency and comfort.” The Office of Faith Formation has embraced this challenge offered by our shepherd.
Lindsay Steele Clergy and parish faith formation leaders participate in a discussion at a faith formation workshop at St. Patrick Parish in Iowa City earlier this year.
On Jan. 12 and Jan. 13, all clergy, ministry leaders, catechists, ministry team members, parents/grandparents and interested parishioners from across the diocese are invited to participate in “Shredding the Doubts: A Faith Formation Roundtable.” These roundtables are centered on the concepts of facilitating encounters with Christ, sharing our stories, and fostering faith. This is an opportunity for everyone to gather to explore and dream about moving our lives and ministries from “maintenance to mission.”
A roundtable engages all who are gathered for the day to discern answers and solutions to the questions of how to be a people in mission and share the Gospel message, which is part of our baptismal call. We will discuss the call to encounter Christ in our daily life, witness the faith to others and how to hand on the faith and share it with our non-Catholic friends and family. Guided in part by facilitators from the Office of Faith Formation, the people gathered will shape the conversation and the outcomes of the day. All who are gathered will have an opportunity to “shred the doubts” of their individual journey of faith, discuss the way in which they share the Gospel with their peers, and talk about overcoming the challenges of moving towards mission in our parish community.
The discussions are being held at St. Mary-Oskaloosa and Ss. Mary & Mathias-Muscatine from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day, with lunch to follow at 1 p.m. Participants are invited to select their day (Friday or Saturday) and their location (Oskaloosa or Muscatine) at the time of registration.
There is no cost for the event, but a free will offering will be taken to cover morning hospitality and lunch. For more information, contact Rosina Hendrickson by email at hendrickson@davenportdiocese.org, by phone at (563) 888-4244 or by visiting the website http://www.
davenportdiocese.org/shred. Registrations are accepted online at http://www.davenportdiocese.org/shred-registration through Jan. 8.
The day of her scheduled abortion, Jasmine drove to Iowa City but arrived at the wrong clinic. She didn’t know that at the time; her mistake would become a godsend. As she sat in her car waiting for the clinic to open that Tuesday morning in March, she saw a man praying outside the clinic.
Contributed Elijah and Eliyaha were born Oct. 23 thanks to the support of David Fetzer and Jacob Poliskey who convinced the babies’ mother, Jasmine, not to have an abortion.
“I was sitting there about 30 to 35 minutes and he came up to me and started talking to me,” Jasmine said. She had been told that people might be praying and protesting outside the clinic. “Surprisingly, he was the only person there.”
David Fetzer has been praying in front of the Emma Goldman Clinic in Iowa City for several years, but not on Tuesdays. “It was the only day that worked out with my work schedule,” he recalled. “It was the last week for our 40 Days for Life Campaign.”
He walked over to the woman’s car to talk with her, not sure what she was waiting for. “She rolled down her window hesitantly. I asked her if she was there to have an abortion, and she said, ‘yes.’ I talked with her about the beauty of life, that every child is created in the image and likeness of God and that her life was of ultimate importance to God and that God loved her.”
As he continued talking to Jasmine, David observed his friend, grad student Jacob Poliskey, approaching on his bicycle. “We’re both in the Knights of Columbus,” David noted. “I said, ‘Jacob, please come over here. I need your help immediately.’”
“I had never talked to an abortion-minded woman before,” Jacob said. He felt grateful to have attended a pro-life seminar at St. Wenceslaus Parish in Iowa City, where he is a member. Presenter Scott Klusendorf, president of Life Training Institute, explained how to logically defend the pro-life position.
Jacob tried to convince Jasmine that the baby in her womb was a living human being, posing this scenario: “Imagine a 2-year-old who really causes you a lot of trouble; would you kill that 2-year-old? Of course not! Nor a 1-year-old, nor a 1-month-old! Is it OK to kill that baby? No. And finally, imagine the baby inside of you, just one minute before birth — does being inside of you make him or her any less of a baby? No it doesn’t. The baby inside of you is a living baby!”
“I don’t want to get too attached,” Jasmine responded, as Jacob recalled. “David had a quick response: ‘Well, you’re about as attached to the baby right now as you’re ever going to get!’ We all had a laugh at that. It’s funny how you can laugh in very stress-filled situations, but we were at least connecting on a personal level,” Jacob said.
Contributed Jacob Poliskey, left, and David Fetzer, pray outside the Emma Goldman Clinic in Iowa City.
Jasmine, a mother of three, had other concerns pertaining to her health, finances and home situation. “We told her about her options in Iowa City, like the Informed Choices Clinic. I told her that my wife (Ellen) was pregnant,” Jacob said. He told Jasmine he was excited about expecting a baby and that his wife would be happy to talk with her.
On impulse, Jacob offered to adopt Jasmine’s baby. “If you don’t want your baby, I will take your baby,” he said. “I was serious,” he told Jasmine. When he later told Ellen about the offer to adopt Jasmine’s baby, “I got a nod of serious agreement.”
Jacob headed for work and began making calls to mobilize the pro-life network in Iowa City. While at work, he prayed intensely for Jasmine. David, meanwhile, discovered that Jasmine was at the wrong clinic. Her appointment was at Planned Parenthood in Iowa City. That bought David more time to build rapport with Jasmine.
“I wasn’t judging her. I was just trying to save the baby’s life,” David said. The married father of five grown children even offered Jasmine shelter at his home. She decided to go through with the abortion, but agreed to be escorted to Planned Parenthood.
People were outside the clinic picketing. David put his arm around Jasmine and they walked into the clinic together. He had another 40 minutes inside the clinic to listen to her story and to encourage her to choose to keep her baby. He was three hours late for work, but that didn’t matter.
As the abortionist and a nurse came to the door to get Jasmine, “all I could do was pray that God and her guardian angel would somehow intervene,” David said. He left for work. Later that afternoon, David received a phone call from Jasmine. An ultrasound revealed that she was expecting twins. She decided against having an abortion.
“I would say Jacob and David played a huge part in my decision,” Jasmine said. “Then, finding out that (the babies) were twins just really made me think like ‘do you really wanna do this?’ In my heart, I knew what I was about to do wasn’t right.”
“I was in tears,” David said. “I have a strong faith, but we can always use reinforcement. It was just beautiful.” God “answered my prayer that day.”
“There are no words for the relief and utter joy that swept over me. God had just saved not only one, but two lives from being taken that day, and I was privileged to be chosen by him to be involved!” Jacob said.
Jasmine gave birth to twins, a girl named Eliyah and a boy named Elijah, on Oct. 23. St. Wenceslaus Parish has showered her family with the necessities they need. Jasmine is grateful for those gifts, but most especially, for the gift of her twins.
“I thank god for Jacob, Ellen, and Dave! They are my angels.”
EDITORS NOTE: This story was updated on 12/22/2017.
By Barb Arland-Fye
The Catholic Messenger
Mother of six faces deportation
By Barb Arland-Fye
The Catholic Messenger
DAVENPORT — Maria Concepcion Calderon Hernandez said she believes God will help her as she awaits a Jan. 3 preliminary hearing that could lead to her deportation to Mexico. But the undocumented mother has chosen not to tell her six children, knowing that they will be distraught.
Barb Arland-Fye Father Guillermo Trevino of St. Mary Parish in Davenport speaks during a rally outside the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport Dec. 14 on the broken immigration system.
Calderon Hernandez, 31, a member of St. Mary Parish, came to the attention of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials after she was arrested Dec. 13 at Von Maur department store in Northpark Mall. She was accused of taking two pairs of children’s pants out of the store without paying for them. All of her children, ages 1-8 were with her. The theft, she claims, was accidental. One of the children inadvertently placed a sweater over the pants, all of which ended up in her bag as she collected her things and headed out of the store, she told The Catholic Messenger through an interpreter. Von Maur officials declined comment, citing company policy.
An affidavit from the Scott County Clerk of District Court states that Calderon Hernandez “concealed the clothes, valued at $50, in the bag. She passed all points of sale without paying for the merchandise and exited the store with the intent to deprive (Von Maur) of their property.”
She was charged with fifth-degree theft and placed on an immigration detainer. She was taken to Scott County Jail and spent the night there. Her husband, Adolfo Nava, a U.S. citizen who works at a plant in Eldridge, was called. He picked up their children and took them home.
Father Guillermo Trevino, who serves at St. Mary’s, was Christmas caroling with some parishioners a short distance from the courthouse when he received an emergency phone call about the arrest of Calderon Hernandez. He raced to the courthouse, but it was closed, so he went to the family’s home.
The next morning, he went to the county jail where he received permission to speak with Calderon Hernandez via video-teleconference. “She was distressed,” Fr. Trevino said. “She was concerned that she was going to be deported. I told her, ‘You have rights. We’re going to be fighting for you, a lot of people. More importantly, trust in God.’”
Calderon Hernandez had previously begun the process to seek citizenship but didn’t continue because of confusion about the expense involved.
In a statement, an ICE official said: “Maria Calderon-Hernandez, an illegally present citizen of Mexico, was arrested by ICE deportation officers Dec. 14 on suspicion of violating U.S. immigration laws, following her local arrest on criminal charges in Davenport, Iowa. ICE released Ms. Calderon later that day on her own recognizance after issuing her a notice to appear before a federal immigration judge.”
Asked for his thoughts, Bishop Thomas Zinkula observed: “It is not a legal requirement that local law enforcement officials turn someone over to ICE, which can lead to that person potentially being deported. We are talking here about a fellow human being who has a baby and other children, and who allegedly committed a simple misdemeanor. This action seems heartless and unnecessary.”
Calderon Hernandez was not released in time to attend a 5 p.m. rally in front of the Scott County Courthouse that aimed to bring attention to the brokenness of the immigration system. Her children and other family members attended the rally, along with dozens of supporters, who were chanting “NICE, not ICE!” Eight-year-old Adolfo said he was sad about what had happened and missed his mom.
Calderon Hernandez “poses no imminent danger to this community,” Margie Mejia-Caraballo of Quad Cities Interfaith told rally supporters. “This kind of inhumane treatment needs to stop!”
In a news release distributed earlier, rally organizers expressed disappointment that the young mother was shown “no flexibility, no consideration of circumstance” and that authorities were “blind to the consequences of policies that rip families apart.”
Rabbi Emeritus Henry Karp said the treatment of the undocumented mother flies in the face of the welcoming community that Quad-City civic leaders promote. It’s not just words, but actions that demonstrate a welcoming community, he noted.
After her release, Calderon Hernandez spoke with The Catholic Messenger at St. Mary’s. “I’m well, but scared,” she said through an interpreter. She arrived in the U.S. at age 16 and has been a member of St. Mary’s for 15 years, where she and her husband were married in 2004. “I don’t have a home in Mexico. Our family, they are all here.”
BETTENDORF — A prelude of Advent and Christmas songs in English and Filipino languages were sung before the Simbang Gabi Mass for the Filipino Catholic community of the Quad-Cities area on Dec. 16 at St. John Vianney Church.
Father Joseph Sia, a native of the Philippines and pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Columbus Junction, was the celebrant. Co-concelebrant was Father Denis Hatungimana of Tanzania, Africa, who is studying at St. Ambrose University in Davenport.
Anne Marie Amacher Members of the Filipino community sing Advent and Christmas songs before the Simbang Gabi Mass Dec. 16 at St. John Vianney Parish in Bettendorf.
Fr. Sia also celebrated a Filipino Mass at St. Mary of the Visitation Parish in Ottumwa the week before.
Simbang Gabi is the Midnight Mass. Due to date and time constraints, the Masses were held ahead of Christmas Eve.
During his homily, preached in English during the predominately Filipino-language Mass, Fr. Sia said that with the lighting of the rose candle for the third Sunday of Advent there is joy; Christmas is fast approaching. Light is slowly growing in Advent, and is found elsewhere this season, he pointed out. Lights on trees, wreaths and laser lights on homes are some examples.
For the Filipino community, the star is a traditional symbol for Christmas. “The light reminds us that we are waiting for the true light, who is Jesus Christ,” Fr. Sia said. “We cannot appreciate him (Jesus) if we forget the darkness.”
It is not yet Christmas, Fr. Sia noted. But we can follow John the Baptist in realizing our sinfulness and the need for our Savior. In the few days before Christmas, Fr. Sia suggested that the sacrament of reconciliation be celebrated to help Catholics to become more aware and to see the need for the light of Christ.
The sacrament of Communion, he continued, gathers us together in Mass. He reminded the community of the obligation to attend Mass during the weekend and then again on Christmas Eve or Christmas day. Some Catholics have been confused because Christmas Eve is Sunday and Christmas Day is Monday. “Visit the one true light — Jesus Christ. He was born to show us the way to heaven,” Fr. Sia said.
Following the Mass, Antonio Bernas, a member of the Filipino-American Association of the Quad Cities, said the traditional novena is observed Dec. 16-23 that leads to the Midnight Mass celebrated Dec. 24. In the Philippines, he said, novenas are held early in the morning and then food is eaten. Oftentimes street vendors sell banana cake and rice cakes after the novenas.
The Filipino community has celebrated the Simbang Gabi Mass at various parishes in the Quad-City area. Bernas said St. John Vianney has been very welcoming and has the space for the reception that follows.
Families bring traditional Filipino foods for everyone to eat at the reception. Parents also bring wrapped presents for their children, which are distributed by Santa.
Bernas said the community has previously tried praying novenas as a group at church but logistics and conflicting schedules interfered. “But we come together for one day to celebrate Simbang Gabi.”
The community gets together for other celebrations throughout the year.
Fr. Sia added that the celebration has been adapted to fit the needs of the community and his schedule. “This is an occasion to come together to worship and prepare for the spirituality of the birth of Christ.”
The event also celebrates “our roots and traditions, and hopefully the children deepen their appreciation of the true meaning of Christmas.”
WASHINGTON — Complete silence was the reaction of 10-year-old Audrey Smith when she learned by phone that she was the winner of this year’s Catholic Messenger Christmas card contest.
The Messenger received 708 entries from students in grades K-6 attending Catholic schools, religious education classes or who are homeschooled.
Audrey, a fourth-grader at St. James Catholic School, said she was shocked but very excited to win the contest. She has entered before, but never won.
Her artwork features Mary holding the infant Jesus in an open stable with a red frame surrounding the scene. The idea came from a combination of three Christmas cards she had seen. “I took ideas from the different cards and added some color,” she said.
Audrey says she loves to do art — drawing, coloring, painting and more. “My desk in my room (at home) is covered in glitter,” she laughed.
Her teacher, Lori Fritz, encouraged the faith formation students to enter the contest. “We have done this for several years, but have never had a winner. We have had some students place in their grade division.”
“She wanted us to give it a go,” Audrey said.
The Messenger staff thanks all of the students who submitted their artwork for the contest. Judging from among all of the colorful selections was difficult.
Contributed This is one of many nativity scenes that will be on display this Sunday at The Canticle, home of the Sisters of St. Francis in Clinton.
CLINTON — The Sisters of St. Francis will hold a Christmas Creche open house this Sunday, Dec. 17, from 1-3 p.m. at The Canticle, home of the Sisters of St. Francis, 841 13th Ave. N. The community is invited to attend and view more than 25 nativity sets from the United States and other countries. Refreshments will be served in the dining room.
“It’s well known that St. Francis of Assisi created the first nativity scene by having a live crèche at a midnight Mass on Christmas Eve in Grecio, Italy, in 1223. After that people wanted figures carved from wood in their churches and in their homes. At The Canticle there are about 30 nativity sets from different parts of the world,” said Sister Hilary Mullany, OSF, who sets up the scenes each year with help from a few volunteers. “We hope people will come and see them and enjoy them.”
“The nativity scenes have continued over centuries,” said Sr. Mullany, “to remind us of the central meaning of Christmas.”
The Messenger received 708 entries from students in grades K-6 attending Catholic schools, religious education classes or who are homeschooled.
