Denver Catholic

4 I OPINION OCTOBER 30, 2013 I DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER 1. Mary is wholly united to her Son. At what time is this most manifest? A. at the Annunciation B. in her proclamation of the Magnificat C. during Christ's passion GEORGE WEIGEL The Church Persecuted Each issue of the admirable ecumenical journal, Touchstone, includes a department called "The Suffering Church." It's a title that Catholics of a certain age associate with purgatory; in Touchstone's vocabulary, however, "the Church suffering" is the Church being purified here and now by persecution. It's a useful reminder of a hard fact. For that hard fact too rarely impinges on the Christian self-awareness, much less the Christian conscience, of the Church Comfortable, the Church Lax, or the Church of Nice— even though the historical commission created by John Paul II in preparation for the Great Jubilee of 2000 made clear that Christians today live in the greatest tribulation-time in Christian history. Indeed, that historical commission suggested that more Christians were killed for fidelity to Christ in the 20th century than in the previous 19 centuries of Christian history combined. As I've noted in this space before, "martyrdom" is not just a matter of Richard Burton and Jean Simmons turning their backs on Jay Robinson's madcap Caligula while Michael Rennie/St. Peter looks on benignly, in the classic Hollywood romance, "The Robe"; "martyrdom" is going on around us, all the time. Thus a single page of a recent issue of Touchstone noted that some 1,200 Protestants are being imprisoned in shipping containers in Eritrean desert camps where "torture is routine;" that Mostafa Bordbar, a 27-year-old Christian convert, was arrested and charged with "illegal gathering and participating in a house church" in Iran (a sobering reminder to those bears of little brain who discern a new "moderation" in Tehran these days); that Kazakh Christians, many of them converts from Islam, are "encouraged," by the arrest and imprisonment of their pastors, to refrain from evangelism; and that a Muslim leader in central Nigeria regularly abducts Christian girls and women and holds them captive in his home, in order to compel their conversion (or reversion) to Islam. As these micro-dramas are being played out, Christians live in daily fear for their lives in Syria and Egypt, two imploding societies where the majority Muslim factions and sects can seem to agree on one thing only: it's open season on Christians. Within two decades, perhaps less, Christianity may well have ceased to be a living ecclesial reality in many of the places where Christianity was born, not to mention the cities where sub-apostolic and patristic Christianity developed; the sole exception to this pattern throughout the Middle East and North Africa is Israel. Thus Tom Holland, a popular historian and author of "The Forge of Christendom" (an intriguing book exploring the ways the late first millennium's expectation of an imminent End Time shaped the West's triumph in the second millennium), said recently at a London press briefing that "In terms of the sheer scale of the hatreds and sectarian rivalries" afoot in the Middle East today, "we are witnessing something on the scale of horror of the European Thirty Years War." At that same conference, my old friend and colleague Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute's Religious Freedom Center in Washington, raised some pointed questions about western media ignorance—or worse—about this persecution. Shea noted that a fourth-century Coptic church dedicated to Our Lady was recently destroyed in Egypt, even though it was on a shortlist to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The church was 200 years older than the UNESCO-listed Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan, whose destruction by the Taliban in 2001 was widely reported and universally condemned; yet the mainstream media treated this grotesque act of anti-Christian religious and cultural vandalism in Egypt as a non-event. So what is to be done? Support those non-governmental agencies that work to sustain the pastoral life of Christianity in its historic birthplace. Demand that U.S. diplomacy take religious freedom in the Middle East more seriously. And make the cause of these and other persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ a regular part of liturgical prayer, remembering the Church Persecuted in the General Intercessions at every Mass and praying publicly for the conversion of the persecutors. Yes, their conversion. George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. Weigel's column is distributed by the Denver Catholic Register, the official newspaper of the Denver Archdiocese. Phone: 303-715-3215. BY PETER WESTHOFF Mary, Mother of Christ and of the Church A quiz on Catholic things under the patronage of the "Doctor of Prayer," St. Teresa of Avila. For each question there is one right answer, but the answer for one question is "None of the Above." The following quiz covers Catechism of the Catholic Church Nos. 963-975. 2. Because of her singular cooperation in the Savior's work of restoring supernatural life to souls, Mary is mother to us in this regard: A. by way of being an instrumental cause of redemption B. through her intercessory role C. in the order of grace 6. What does Mary's Assumption anticipate? A. the Second Coming B. the resurrection of all members of the mystical body YEAR C. our sharing in the glory of the angels 3. Who was in Mary's OF FAITH company when she gave SCRIPTURE 7. In what way is Mary's her "fiat"? A. St. Joseph "How good our God mediation greater than B. her cousin Elizabeth has been to me!" that of her Son? C. the holy shepherds A. in that it is maternal — Psalm 13:6 B. in that it continued after 4. In her Magnificat, Mary Christ's Ascension said, "All generations will call me C. in no way—her intercession is blessed." What does this tell us? only in the light of her Son A. that adoration of the Blessed Mother is proper B. that the Church's devotion to the Blessed Mother is intrinsic to Christian worship Next quiz covers catechism Nos. C. that motherhood is the highest 976-1005. vocation 1. C, 2. C, 3. None of the Above: Mary was in the company of the Angel Gabriel, 4. B, 5. B, 6. B, 7. C THE CATHOLIC DIFFERENCE 5. What two great events are spoken of in this passage: "We also see Mary by her prayers imploring the gift of the Holy Spirit, who had already overshadowed her." A. the Visitation and the Wedding Feast at Cana B. the Annunciation and Pentecost C. the Nativity and the Presentation Univision to feature archdiocesan pilgrimage Denver Univision affiliate KCEC-TV will air a special series on Our Lady of Guadalupe in November. Luisa Collins, Univision's news director, accompanied Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver and 160 faithful from 51 parishes on a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City from Aug. 28-Sept. 3. During the pilgrimage, she gathered reporting on the shrine, as well as the experience of the Denver pilgrims as they visited it, many for the first time. The series is called "The devotion, the mysteries, and the miracles of Our Lady of KARNA SWANSON/DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER Guadalupe," and will air nightly from Nov. 4-Nov. 8 during Uni- UNIVISION news director Luisa Collins reports from Mexico vision's 10 p.m. Spanish-lan- City as she accompanies 160 pilgrims from Denver to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. guage news program. Aquila From Page 2 the child was due, although trusting as always in Providence, she was ready to give her life in order to save that of her child: 'If you must decide between me and the child, do not hesitate: choose the child—I insist on it. Save him.'" On April 21, 1962, Gianna Emanuela was born, but the doctors' efforts to save both of them did not succeed. St. Gianna was remembered by Pope Paul VI in 1973 as "A young mother from the Diocese of Milan, who, to give life to her daughter, sacrificed her own, with conscious immolation." So many mothers daily lay their lives down in ways that, while they may not be as dramatic as St. Gianna's sacrifice, still offer to you a sure path for holiness. Finally, our archdiocese was richly blessed by the presence of Blessed Pope John Paul II, who will be recognized as a saint on April 27, 2014. Much can be said about John Paul II, but I think that his willingness to live Jesus' exhortation, "Be not afraid!" is one of the things that all of us can relate to. He had many chances to be afraid in his life—from living under communist rule to being chosen to shepherd the global Church. But when he was faced with those challenges, Blessed John Paul II responded by trusting in God's mercy and love. I think of him losing both his parents at a young age, being forced to study for the priesthood in secret, the assassination attempt by Mehemet Ali Agca, and, finally, his struggle with Parkinson's, which eventually led to his death. Soon-to-be St. John Paul II's last words should serve as a challenge and an inspiration to all of us to strive for holiness to get to heaven, our true home: "Let me go to the house of the Father." This All Saints' Day, I urge all of you to celebrate the truth that with God's grace, holiness is possible. May you open your hearts to receive the mercy and love of Jesus Christ so that you may grow in holiness! ARCHBISHOP AQUILA'S SCHEDULE Nov. 1: All School Mass, Regis Jesuit High School, Aurora (10 a.m.) Nov. 2: Pastoral visit, St. Andrew the Apostle Church, Wray; Mass and confirmation (4 p.m.) Nov. 3: Mass, St. Andrew the Apostle Church, Wray (8 a.m.) Nov. 3: Pastoral visit, St. John the Evangelist Church, Yuma; Mass (10:30 a.m. English, 1 p.m. Spanish)

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