Chevalier de la charité

A Jan. 24 announcement that the Sisters of Notre Dame plan to close a high-performing all-girls Catholic school in Thousand Oaks, California, by the end of June after nearly 60 years of operation has generated an impassioned pushback by students, parents and alumnae.

Amid the swift scrambling, there is also plenty of soul searching.

La Reina, a high school and middle school, boasting a 100% graduation rate into four-year colleges, has been unable to reverse what are national trends: declining enrollment and projected budget deficits.

A 53% drop in enrollment over the prior eight years and a deficit of $1.4 million for fiscal year 2023 were the two driving reasons for the decision, according to an email sent to parents by then-president Tony Guevara, who recently stepped down from his position. 

It was supported by the National Ministry Corporation, the corporate entity of the Sisters of Notre Dame. It also came endorsed by the La Reina school board. But the board underwent an overhaul in the weeks prior to the announcement — seven of the nine directors resigned or were asked to leave, and replaced with those tied to the Sisters of Notre Dame. Those who left signed nondisclosure agreements.

The board said current enrollment is 268, of which 149 are in high school. As recent as 2019, enrollment was 352. The average tuition for students is about $20,000 a year.

A Save La Reina group was activated within hours of the announcement by an alumnae base that includes many employed in the legal and business world. It included the launch of a website and Facebook page for news updates, and starting a pledge drive to show its potential financial support. The group also staged a vocal protest outside the school grounds on Feb. 3 in concert with the school’s annual « Nun Run » fundraising event, where proceeds support the Sisters of Notre Dame Life & Ministry Fund.

La Reina’s high school, selected as a 2013 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education, is rated No. 35 among the more than 1,100 Catholic high schools in the country and No. 12 among 108 Catholic high schools in California in a survey by online education resource provider Niche.com. 

It has been named the Ventura County Star’s Best Private School in Ventura County for three years in a row.

The closing of a Catholic school may not be breaking news, but aggressive activation of a grassroots movement that includes some Southern California star power has amplified the message.

Mira Sorvino, the Academy Award-winning actress whose youngest daughter, 11-year-old Lucia, started at La Reina middle school in the fall of 2023, has been letter-writing and strategizing on the group’s behalf.

« We were stunned because when we came last summer to visit, she fell in love with it, we applied, we were accepted, but we were never given any indication there was a possibility they had financial problems or would consider closing, » Sorvino told NCR. « I was ecstatic about finding this school. It has been a gem. But to have this bomb drop at the end of January has left the girls crying for days. They’re still not over it. »

Sorvino, who last Easter converted to Catholicism through the RCIA program at Our Lady of Malibu Catholic Church, said her daughter travels 35 minutes each way to the school from their Malibu home.

In a letter of support sent to the Notre Dame leadership as well as Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Sorvino explained: « [My daughter] has fallen in love with her new teachers and friends. There is a special spirit of calm love, academic excellence and spiritual growth that permeates this campus, thanks to the Sisters’ influence. This is more than just a brick-and-mortar, dollars-and-cents educational business. It is a ministry. The school is rightfully named after the Queen of Heaven and I think we can pray for inspiration and guidance to not shutter this. »

The Sisters of Notre Dame started La Reina School in 1964 to serve the growing Conejo Valley west of Los Angeles. 

Sr. Margaret Mary Gorman, the provincial of the Sisters of Notre Dame USA province, points to data showing population declines in Ventura County because of the high cost of living. She said residents moving out of state have led to La Reina suspending many extracurricular opportunities.

« That affects the total school experience, » she told NCR. « It’s what families have come to expect and the sisters want for our schools, but that’s increasingly difficult to provide. It’s not a problem unique to our California province. »

Asked about how this decision may influence the other 12 Sisters of Notre Dame ministries across the country, Gorman added: « Each of our schools is its own entity and board. There’s no grand master plan to pull out of our schools. … This is a reflection of the larger context of what is happening in the church and in the United States. »

Laura Koehl, the executive director of the Sisters of Notre Dame USA National Sponsorship and Network Office as well as COO of the National Ministry Corporation Board, told NCR: « There are a lot of people in various stages of grief about this. We see the reaction and where it’s coming from and we need to stay focused on what’s in the best interest of the students, their families and the faculty. »

Laird Wilson, who has two daughters as La Reina graduates and retired in 2021 after 14 years as the director of facilities and operation, said supporters have raised more than $7 million over the years for capital and leasehold improvements. He said La Reina had been paying as much as $120,000 a year to the sisters to rent the facilities as well as funding the dean of admission position on campus. 

« The campus looks and operates almost like a college campus because we have been willing to make that happen, » said Wilson. « The reality is if you take La Reina out of here, you have closed so much Catholic education in the Canejo Valley. »

Neither former school president Guevara or principal Maggie Marschner responded to an NCR interview request. Guevara resigned on Feb. 5 citing medical issues. Marschner has taken a leave of absence.

Guevara is featured on the school’s website endorsing a 2019-2024 strategic plan called « Her Future Our Focus, » in which he is quoted:

La Reina has the opportunity to re-evaluate, refocus, and reinvigorate its programs, ensuring that our school remains a leader in educating young women, for generations to come. Given the pace of change in today’s world, it is imperative that we understand our evolving landscape, anticipate our future, and think boldly about how La Reina will continue to provide a transformative educational experience for our students. With much significant growth underway, I look forward to offering regular updates on our progress.

Gorman said that, despite speculation, there is no plan to sell any or all of the 34-acre property — 11 acres are dedicated to the school campus, while six acres continue to support an active Sisters of Notre Dame convent and education center, and 17 acres are undeveloped.

More than 350 virtual signatures were sent on a petition to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, asking Archbishop José Gomez to help find a solution. Paul Escala, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles superintendent of schools, said in a statement to NCR: « While La Reina Middle School and High School resides within the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the school is owned and operated by the Sisters of Notre Dame and managed independently from the Archdiocese by its Board of Directors. The Archdiocese has no oversight of the school. 

« That said, the Archdiocese is committed to assisting the students and staff, in partnership with school leadership, with their transition to other Catholic schools. We encourage all concerned stakeholders to share their sentiments with the provincial office and the school’s board of directors. Our prayers are with you and the La Reina school community. »

There are more than 50 high schools in the archdiocese’s Department of Catholic Schools, the largest system of non-public schools in the nation, covering Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, and serving more than 68,000 students. 

« I think the Archdiocese can be a hero here to help mediate, » said Sandhya Kogge, a 1999 graduate helping to drive the Save La Reina group. « The message to the diocesan community may be to stay out of our business, but educating young women in the Catholic faith is their business. » 

Kogge, a film distribution lawyer at The Walt Disney Company and former federal prosecutor who is on the board of directors of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, said while the Save La Reina group has recruited the law firms of Ervin Cohen & Jessup as well as Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP to help map out a legal strategy, filing a lawsuit is not a goal.

« But if the National Ministry Corporation will not entertain options to keep the school open, then students and parents and donors need to seek claim and damages, » said Kogge.

Save La Reina has proposed delaying the closure at least one more school year, while continuing to assess financial support that could potentially come forward.

Gorman told NCR the decision to announce a closing date now is based on a concern that « if we waited, the school might collapse during the course of that extra year and that’s not good for anyone. If this happened too suddenly, there would be no time for the school community to spend time savoring the tradition and history and having a better closure. That’s just not the way we would ever want for a school to close. »

Kogge emphasized the alumnae group is « not acting out of nostalgia or volunteering their time out of a need to be saviors. We are doing it for the girls, the students at the school, and for a community that has shaped who we are. »

This coming Saturday, Feb. 24, marks the second anniversary of Russia’s second invasion of Ukraine in this century. The first invasion started 10 years ago next week, on Feb. 27, when Russian troops took over key installations on the Crimean peninsula and began fomenting revolts in the Donbas region. Across the span of history, Ukraine has often been under Russian or Soviet control. 

These are grim anniversaries to be sure. No one knows how many people have been killed in the conflicts. The Ukrainian government closely guards the number, fearing it would hurt morale, but a civic group last year estimated there had been 24,500 combat and non-combat deaths among Ukrainians, with 15,000 missing. It is likely many of those reported missing are dead as well.

The number of Russian dead is vastly larger, and mostly combatants. The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense estimates that there have been 50,000 Russian soldiers killed, and another 20,000 from the Wagner Group. The ministry also estimates there have been 240,000 Russian soldiers wounded, and another 40,000 wounded from the Wagner Group. In the fight against tyranny, a new casualty was added last week: Aleksei Navalny died in a Russian prison. He was not Ukrainian by birth but their fight was his fight.

In addition to the casualty lists, there is the trauma that has afflicted the population of Ukraine, from the children who are forced to attend schools underground to the fear among all civilians when Russian bombs target urban population centers at night. Countless families remain separated as mothers and children have fled the country while fathers stay to fight. 

Yet the flame of Ukrainian national identity burns as brightly as ever. Morale has dimmed a bit since the heady first days of the war, when Ukrainian forces turned back what the world thought would be an easy, successful Russian attack on Kyiv. Ukrainian troops may be slogging it out in the Donbas but sea drones have reportedly sunk or disabled a third of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. Russia is not in a position to be able to replace so many warships in what retired Lt. Gen Mark Herling calls « the pride of the Russian Navy. » 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has aged these past two years, but he continues to be a leader of astonishing moral gravity and political finesse. Not since Benjamin Franklin went to Paris has one man so successfully carried his nation’s diplomatic ambitions on his solitary back. Zelenskyy was in Paris last week to sign a bilateral security agreement with French President Emmanuel Macron. He also attended the Munich Security Conference in Germany and met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Europe has not abandoned Ukraine to its fate. 

The United States is a different story. Of all the really despicable things today’s Republican Party has done, its willingness to abandon Ukraine is the worst. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said the House will not be « rushed » into passing the foreign aid bill that passed the Senate, as if he was talking about a waiter who brings the entrée too quickly after the soup. Ukraine does not have the luxury of going on recess from the war, as Johnson allowed the House to go on recess without passing or even debating the foreign aid bill. 

« Every day that Speaker Johnson causes our national security to deteriorate, America loses, » White House spokesman Andrew Bates said. « And every day that he puts off a clean vote, congressional Republicans’ standing with the American people plunges. Running away for an early vacation only worsens both problems. »

Bates is both right and wrong. There is no doubt that American national security is harmed if we abdicate our moral obligation to assist Ukraine. Johnson, however, faces a more immediate and a larger problem: Will he allow Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson set foreign policy for the Republican Party, forging an alliance with Vladimir Putin and abandoning not only Ukraine but NATO? Will Johnson allow the craziest of the crazies to rule the roost? 

Meanwhile, the brave soldiers and citizens of Ukraine carry on the fight to defend their homeland. Shame on us if we do not help them in their struggle, and more than shame. Allowing Putin a victory would destabilize Europe to its foundations. Let House Republicans ponder that. In this case, it is both our interest and our honor that is at stake.

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert. That’s no two-cent word! The word Mark chose to explain how the Spirit prompted Jesus into the desert is the same word the Gospels use to refer to driving out demons, to people « cast out » into the darkness and to Jesus’ eviction of the people who had turned the temple into a marketplace. Mark tells us that the Spirit impelled Jesus to go apart immediately after his baptism. Was it to seek the meaning of what he had seen and heard at the baptism? He did have a lot to meditate on after the heavens were torn open, the Spirit descended upon him and the voice proclaimed, « You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased. »

No Gospel tells us why Jesus decided to submit to John’s ritual. Mark, who wrote the first Gospel, might have seen Jesus’ baptism as a symbol of his incarnation and the mortality it implied (Philippians 2:5-8). In baptism, Jesus had made himself one with people who were putting their whole heart and soul into metanoia, a graced decision that impelled them to break free of narrow visions that restrict hope. Unlike Matthew and Luke who describe Jesus’ temptations as a recapitulation of Israel’s history and of different approaches to being Messiah, Mark gives us precious few details: Jesus spent 40 days; he was tempted; he was accompanied by wild beasts and angels. That’s it.

Perhaps Mark is giving us a clue for interpretation with that last phrase, « He was among wild beasts and angels ministered to him. » Even more than Matthew and Luke’s description of the temptations of bread, temple and idolatry, this phrase depicts Jesus as entering into the heart of contradictions: the implacable and frightening forces of nature and the spiritual realities hidden in all matter testifying to what is beyond the palpable. It seems that Jesus may have been driven into the desert to discern about what was deepest in himself, God’s hopes for creation, and how the two were to go together.

Jesus’ being driven by the Spirit reveals that he was particularly sensitive to God’s movement in the world and was seeking to experience God even more profoundly. To do that, anyone, Jesus included, needs to take time apart. Jesus’ sojourn in the desert was like a prolonged Sabbath — a time of leisure, of setting aside his own projects to allow God to touch and re-form his imagination.

The verses of Psalm 25 that we pray in today’s liturgy could well have been the psalm on Jesus’ lips as he wondered in the desert. This prayer could lead us through our 40 days of Lent. 

When we are sincere in praying, « Make your ways known to me, » we open ourselves, like Jesus, to being impelled to escape from our ceaseless activity. This prayer calls us, strange as it may sound, to the « discipline of leisure. » It allows wonder to lead us beyond what we think we know.

Pope Francis recently said as much when he urged a dialogue group of Marxists and Christians to dream, to allow dreaming to give them the ability to be creative and the courage to take risks. Francis told them that dreaming leads toward grasping God’s own dream for creation.

When we pray, « Remember that your compassion and love are from of old, » we instinctively know that God needs no reminders, rather, we need to ponder our experiences of God’s compassion and give thanks for those who have revealed God’s love to us. Doing so, we’ll understand the truth of the phrase, « Good and upright are you, Lord, showing sinners the way. » This prayer puts us in touch with God’s invitation to us — sometimes gentle, sometimes terrifyingly impelling.

The First Letter of Peter expresses this invitation in terms of cultivating a clear conscience. We usually think of conscience as a call to remember our sin and repent. Following Jesus’ example in the desert, we can rethink that. « Conscience » combines the words « con » (with) and « science, » thus, Christian conscience describes a way of knowing together with God. That is exactly what Jesus sought in the desert, he took the time to know with God and understand what he was called to be and do. 

As we begin Lent, rather than choose something to give up, a more radical approach could be to commit to taking the leisure that allows us to dream beyond our current horizons. That would bring us into the realm of the kind of sacrifice that consecrates our time. It leads us to go, like Jesus, into the sacred activity of coming to know ourselves and our world from God’s perspective. 

Beware! Taking time for sacred leisure can make us vulnerable to being driven like Jesus.

As Black people, we know the struggles that hit our lives personally much more than many of our fellow brothers and sisters around the world. In America, we are still struggling to achieve true equality and recognition. We have struggled for centuries to prove that we are capable, talented and, in most cases, the brightest ones in the room. Just a couple of weeks ago, we saw this play out at one of the most-watched awards shows in the country. 

At the 2024 Grammys, the rapper Jay-Z received the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award for his contributions to the music industry. Surrounded by some of the field’s most accomplished and talented artists, he made a statement that shook the entire audience and has been spoken about repeatedly since. 

« I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than anyone and never won album of the year, » he said of his wife, the multi-genre star Beyoncé.

« Even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work. Think about that. The most Grammys and never won album of the year. That doesn’t work. »

As Beyoncé sat in the audience, quietly watching her husband speak the truth, the rest of the Black community and many in the music industry knew it as well. Black people are always working harder and almost never getting the recognition that they deserve.

This year, as is often the case, Lent began right in the middle of Black History Month. I have always thought this is a beautiful convergence. A time when we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, mixed in with recognition of the outstanding accomplishments of Black people. Lent has also been a time to devote an extensive amount of time to my relationship with God. Lent asks us two main questions: What is in the way of your relationship with God? And how can I deepen my relationship with God?

Looking at Jesus’ time on Earth, we see the struggle that he had throughout his life. Something I personally believe is that as Black Catholics, we should identify with his pain because he, too, was a brown person meant to make a difference despite opposition. Throughout his life, he took the guidance of God and persevered despite the devil, antagonists, and temptation. He continued to move forward. One of the most beautiful pieces of his story is that he stood strong, knowing that from above, he was anointed and protected no matter what. Our Mass readings during Holy Week show that even when he knew the time was coming for him to be betrayed, he handled it all with grace and stayed consistent. 

I do believe the same can be applied to my life and to the rest of the Black diaspora. There have been many times I’ve been the most educated person in the room but underestimated, had the best idea in a meeting but ignored, or worked for someone not qualified for the job. As great and strong as Black people are, the work to consistently show up, code-switch and strive for perfection becomes entirely taxing for many of us.

When I was deep in the struggle, my previous pastor told me to look to the Black Catholics on their way to sainthood for inspiration. I pray that they continue to give me guidance as I continue to fight for that recognition and change they so graciously sought in their own lives. 

In his speech this month, Jay-Z offered his own advice: « In life, you gotta keep showing up. Just keep showing up. Forget the Grammys. You gotta keep showing up until they give you all those accolades you feel you deserve. »

Indeed, it is my hope that this Lenten season, we Black Catholics will recognize that in spite of the injustices and odds against us and the standard of perfection often required of us, we will prevail just as Jesus did.

Following are NCR reader responses to recent news articles, opinion columns and theological essays with letters that have been edited for length and clarity. These « Letters to the Editor » appear in the March 1–14, 2024 print issue.

Not the same

Michael Sean Winters seems to equate aid to Ukraine with aid to Israel: « Both are engaged in bitter struggles against, respectively, a thugocracy and theocracy » (ncronline.org, Feb. 12, 2024). Putin and Hamas may be equally evil, but this does not mean that Ukraine and Israel are equally deserving of our aid. Ukraine needs our aid to hold off Russia’s nakedly aggressive land grab, but Israel does not need any more help from us to continue its genocidal campaign against Gaza. 

The only leverage the U.S. has to force Israel to work seriously for peace is to withhold aid, not give more. No cajoling is of any use while unconditional support continues.

Sadly, though, the political state of affairs in our country is that our aid to Ukraine is in greater peril than our aid to Israel. 

MARK J. GEORGE
Detroit, Michigan

***

Lip service

One expects a Catholic publication to pay at least lip service to the teachings of Jesus (ncronline.org, Feb. 12, 2024). Did Jesus ever complain that we are not shipping enough bombs to our allies? Did Jesus ever say that the way to make peace is to arm one side in a fight? Did Jesus ever suggest that a « just peace » is when your guy wins? Foreign Affairs routinely publishes articles based on these premises, but I was appalled to see them in a purportedly Christian publication.

PETER C. REYNOLDS
Palo Alto, California

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Partisan not pastoral

Considering the Republican Party and the USCCB have many of the same benefactors, it is not surprising the church will play a role in our politics (ncronline.org, Feb. 9, 2024). What is unfortunate is that many of our clerics engage in political support which ostensibly violates federal law regarding not-for-profit enterprises.

The quadrennial document Faithful Citizenship has since its inception appeared to minimize the importance of issues and policies which benefit the vast majority of the American people, particularly the poor. Their emphasis has been the preeminence of abortion and their mandate that only those politicians whom the clergy regard as sufficiently anti-abortion are worthy of the votes of Catholics.

The members of the Catholic Church in America are no more divided than the population of non-Catholics. As Fr. Reese alludes, our parishes are likely divided similarly so our pastors need to take care not to alienate half their congregations. The only way for our shepherds to play a positive role is to give equal time to different issues such as climate change, the social safety net, fair taxation, etc. If the bishops fail to show evenhandedness toward all candidates they will define themselves as partisan and not pastoral. Their credibility will not survive that reputation.

CHARLES A. LEGUERN
Granger, Indiana

***

The Catholic vote

If the choices for president in the next election are President Biden or President Trump, who in conscience can we vote for (ncronline.org, Feb. 9, 2024)? Both are supporters of more military aid to Israel. There will be others on the ballot but elections are structured so they do not have a chance of winning. The same goes for votes for many representatives and senators who support more defense spending. How can the Catholic vote make a difference in this type of election structure? Do we override our conscience to vote?

BOB GRAF
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Needless legalism

I’m a non practicing Catholic, but my faith is important to me. Rome’s publication of Gestis Verbisque underscores why I distanced myself from the institutional church: I’m tired of needless legalism (ncronline.org, Feb. 7, 2024).

I understand the point the Vatican—and Winters in his column—is trying to make: the sacraments are a treasure and ought not to to be messed with. However, particularly in the case of baptism, the trinitarian formula needs to be the non-negotiable verbal element. Surely God was not prevented from acting by the mere alteration of the pronoun! If the Vatican expects « I » going forward, fine, but it shouldn’t expect all those baptized with « we » to believe that their baptisms (and other sacraments received thereafter) never counted. How demeaning for them (and for the clergy who acted in good faith)!

Instead of stipulating that the entirety of the text or rite in question has to be followed to the exact letter for a sacrament to be valid, intent should matter most. After all, the directive to baptize as recorded in scripture (Mt 28:19) only mentions the trinitarian formula. Our Orthodox kin don’t use a pronoun at all, and Rome has no issues with their baptisms.

Stop putting God in a box! The spirit of the law should always triumph over the letter.

LUKE JENSEN-CROSS
Farmers Branch, Texas

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Magic words

Michael Sean Winters writes that failure to adhere to the precise words the church prescribes to administer sacraments such as baptism is a big deal because the « words in the baptismal formula were given to us by Christ himself » (ncronline.org, Feb. 7, 2024). Actually, the words used are not Christ’s but rather a translation of a translation of a translation of something written down years after Christ’s death (and in fact differ depending on the church rite). That said, Winters is absolutely correct when he states that the sacraments must be treated with all the reverence we can. But rather than regarding them as a commodity that God will withhold unless the correct magic words are recited by a human, the sacraments are instead a gift freely given by the loving God. For them to be effective, what is most important is whether these gifts are accepted not only with reverence but also with all the humility, faith, hope and, most of all, love (for both God and our fellow human) we can muster.

BILL LEONARD
Oquossoc, Maine

In his recent apostolic exhortation, Laudate Deum, Pope Francis shared a clear message: our Common Home is suffering from a human-driven climate crisis, and it is up to us to take urgent action. Knowing this, it pains me to see that a critical part of our natural world and one of our biggest natural resources for slowing climate change, our majestic mature and old-growth forests on federal lands, are being lost to logging. 

From filtering the air we breathe and the water we drink to providing essential wildlife habitat and spiritual value, mature forests and big trees are powerful life sources. By absorbing harmful pollutants that can cause harm through high rates of asthma, heart disease, lung disease and cancer, these trees give us clean air to breathe. By clearing out toxins from the water flowing into rivers, streams and reservoirs, mature forests help provide our communities with clean, reliable water to drink. 

And importantly, given the climate crisis highlighted by Pope Francis, our mature and old-growth forests on federal land store 17.2 billion metric tons of carbon and counting. Forests are at the heart of our country’s climate resilience and are one of our most effective climate solutions. As the Elwha Legacy Forests coalition states, « No human-made technology can match big trees for removing and storing climate pollution. If they are logged, most of that pollution is quickly released into the atmosphere and it takes many decades or centuries for younger trees to recapture it. »

That’s why I am heartened to see that the U.S. Forest Service just proposed a plan to advance protections, in the form of a nationwide forest plan amendment, for the last remaining old-growth trees in all 128 U.S. national forests. 

Irresponsible logging and the devastating impacts of human-driven climate change have left precious mature and old-growth forests suffering all over the country. Most of our old-growth forests have already been cut down, while many mature forests — future old-growth forests — are on the chopping block. Right now, more than 370,000 acres of mature and old-growth forests, including trees that have stood for nearly a century, face imminent threats of logging under 22 federal logging projects. 

In addition to logging, old-growth forests are increasingly threatened by the effects of climate change — wildfires, drought, insects and disease. These forests remove a significant amount of climate-warming carbon pollution from the air and store it in their leaves, branches, trunks, roots and carbon rich soils. These forests also provide wildlife habitat and clean drinking water.

The proposed forest plan amendment could better protect and strengthen the country’s old-growth forests, addressing their threats and conserving them as a natural climate solution. Forest Service leaders must ensure that the final amendment truly stops commercial logging of old growth and paves the way for future action to protect our mature trees and forests as well. 

As Pope Francis said in Laudate Deum, « The world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point. » In recent years we have witnessed wildfires that have ravaged communities and blanketed others with smoke from hundreds of miles away. We do not have time to waste. It is up to us to slow the global climate crisis and alleviate the suffering that it brings to our communities and to our siblings around the world. We have a moral responsibility to act, and we can contribute to that by protecting our forests. 

Pope Francis reminds those of us who are Catholic to recall how « responsibility for God’s earth means that human beings, endowed with intelligence, must respect the laws of nature and the delicate equilibria existing between the creatures of this world. » As a Catholic himself, President Joe Biden understands the moral and existential imperative that calls us to protect and care for these essential ecosystems and creations of God.

« The world sings of an infinite Love: how can we fail to care for it? » Pope Francis asks in Laudate Deum. 

I feel that profound love every time I step into one of our beautiful nation’s national forests. This is an opportunity and a responsibility for the Biden administration to lead by example to care for it, by using one of the easiest climate solutions available to us: to ensure the final U.S. Forest Service amendment is strong and protects old-growth trees and forests from logging. These forests are one of our most affordable tools for fighting the worsening climate crisis.  We cannot wait any longer for action to protect our communities and common home.

In the winter of 2013 I sat down to make my New Year’s resolution. I had struggled with weight and body image since I was a kid, but in 2013 I wasn’t a kid anymore. I was a teacher, and as I contemplated the new me I could sculpt in the new year, I had a stroke of genius: I would « lesson plan » my way into shape. 

I can still picture the calendar I made, the promise of January 2014 sketched out in black and white before me. I set my goal at that date and planned backwards from there, creating daily activities and weekly assessments. I had singlehandedly solved New Year’s resolutions. 

In some ways, what happened next was predictable. The lesson plan, detailed as it was, lasted a day. Maybe two. Either way, it ended in failure. 

Something else happened though, something I didn’t expect: The feeling of failure didn’t fade with time. Not by the end of January. Not even by the end of the year. It weighed on my heart, hardening into something cold and heavy as stone. I haven’t made a New Year’s resolution since. 

Today, the season of Lent is upon us. To my stone heart, Lent often feels like « New Year’s Resolutions: Part II. » It’s a sequel released too soon, another call to consider our faults, another failure threatening to turn to stone. It’s no coincidence in the decade since my New Year’s lesson plan I’ve neither made nor kept a meaningful Lenten practice either. Instead of walking God’s path, I’ve chosen to lay my own using my failures as stepping stones. It’s a path that takes me nowhere new, only back and forth, tracing and retracing my own missteps.

This goes far beyond one failed New Year’s resolution or botched Lenten fast. It’s the way I’ve walked through life. I carry my failures with me, telling myself that I’ll cut them and shape them. I’ll set them in my heart just right and polish them up. I’ll make them beautiful, and then I, too, will be beautiful. It’s the way much of our society tells us to live: To make yourself better, focus on your faults. Turn your failures into stepping stones.

It sounds good; or, at least, it sounds motivating. There’s just one problem: Christ doesn’t call us to have hearts of stone. In fact, Ash Wednesday reminds us it’s quite the opposite. 

We are not handed stones today. We are painted with ashes, coarse but soft. Ashes are not heavy. They are not burdensome. While ashes invite us to consider our failures, they do so by inviting us to accept those failures, bear them for a time and then wash them away. This is a rhythm of mercy, a practice of softening.

In the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-23), Jesus compares a heart receptive to the word of God to good soil, ground in which the seed of God’s word is able to grow deep roots and bear much fruit. In other words, Christ asks us to soften and receive. We are not the farmers in this story, called to plow or sow or reap. We are the soil, called to a practice of softening by treating ourselves with the same mercy Christ himself treats us with.

For many of us, letting go of our failures feels like giving up. After all, dwelling on them often feels like our only hope for change, as though we can make everything better if we just try a little harder. In this way, we make hardening a habit. 

But this Lenten season, what if we made a practice of softening instead? The only resolution I am making for these next 40 days is to pray this simple prayer: Lord, soften my heart. It is a prayer of patience, of waiting and of mercy. It is a proper prayer for ashes and soil and softening.

I may not ever be able to lift the stones I’ve laid for myself, but if I can invite God to soften the soil around them, perhaps they will crack just enough for something new to grow.

As the Vatican prepares to host the second part of Pope Francis’ major summit on the future of the Catholic Church this October, one of the event’s main organizers said a central purpose of the gathering is to create « a new style of leadership » for the global faith institution.

In an exclusive interview with National Catholic Reporter in late January, Xavière Sr. Nathalie Becquart said that, through the October 2023 and 2024 assemblies of the Synod of Bishops, Francis is creating « a path of conversion » toward « a new way to exercise the authority » in the church.

Becquart, an undersecretary at the Vatican’s office for the Synod of Bishops, also described the synodal process as « the Second Vatican Council in a nutshell. »

« I really see that what we are doing is really to continue to implement the Second Vatican Council, » she said, speaking in an interview at the synod office for NCR’s « The Vatican Briefing » podcast. 

Francis has called the two synod assemblies to discuss a wide range of issues facing the global Catholic Church, including women’s leadership, priestly celibacy, and ministry to LGBTQ Catholics.

The first assembly ended on Oct. 29, but postponed action on most of the hot-button issues until the upcoming 2024 assembly.

In her interview for « The Vatican Briefing, » Becquart discussed in particular the synod’s ongoing consideration of women’s leadership in the church.

« We have also emphasized that, at this time, what is also very important … [is] to continue to put into practice many things or many ways that are already possible to put into practice, for becoming more and more a synodal church, » she said.

« That means calling more women [to] leadership in different church bodies and in dioceses, in bishops’ conferences, Catholic Charities, in Catholic universities, » said Becquart. « Finding ways to move, to go forward, to have more and more women in leadership. »

« For many things you don’t need to wait, you know, [for] the end of the synod, » she said.

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