A Note About Zyla

Just a small note about the passing of Zyla, the daughter of my Saint Helen's classmate, Eddie Nyahay. A dramatic & saintly girl, devoted to Divine Mercy, she died today. For more about miracles associated with her death, see my Spiritual Journal 4/24/22.

Annie's Newest Art Endeavor : Stained Glass

I'm telling you, my sweet Annie is a prodigy! She was SO afraid to ask me for the fairly expensive equipment to begin this art endeavor. But I used my own money and got it ALL for her. No camp this summer. No trip abroad. A PERFECT summer activity! And she did SO much research! She did a test circle. Then a ginko leaf! ... AND THEN A TURTLE in honor of Edisto! All in her specially designed art area of her old room. She already has hundreds of dollars of commissioned offers! Now scroll down and JUST LOOK AT THE AMAZING TURTLE!

The Quinceniera of Luz Casmiero

Luz has been friends with Annie since they were 5 years old and began at Immaculata Catholic School. Now they are both 15, and going to the same high school. Still friends! I was SO hoping Annie would be invited to this special Mass and party! SHE WAS! What a special occasion to attend! ... I even got Annie to take a selfie! The other pics are from Luz.

Synod Aftermath

Proud of the groundbreaking progressive response to the Synod, I sent my reports directly to Pope Francis. Amazingly, I heard from Thierry Bonaventura, the Synod webmaster who asked if he could publish a few of the testimonies. Of COURSE I said yes to the Vatican!! 

Little did I know it was going to be called "Testimonies of Three Homosexual Couples." This would have been wonderful EXCEPT it made it seem like the 3 couples were sitting in our pews (they weren't), so it mad our parish seem like a very progressive parish not following the Catechism.

There was major backlash from a conservative group called "Church Mitant." And, supposedly, I was made either a hero or a villain all over the internet. 

The whole thing caused me so much anxiety that I STILL haven't read either article. (The links are below.) HOWEVER, I am.SO GLAD this happened the way it did. It may be the ONLY way those beautiful couples' stories would be heard, considering the conservative nature of our diocese, our bishop, and the USCCB.

This is how I found out about the incident, ... what follows is the email from the Diocesan Leader of the Synod, Dr. Rovarti (links included):

Dear Reverend Cook and Noelle,

The diocesan communication office reached out to me to alert me that Church Militant wrote about the synod in your parish. Here is what they told me.

https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/popes-synod-labels-gay-adoption-pro-life

This May 9 “article” criticizing the Synod and claiming the Vatican is pro-homosexual includes information about the Synod leader and process at Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville. Church Militant is hardly accurate or fair – it is a hate-filled and radical source of “news” that has been condemned by multiple bishops (including their local ordinary), but I’m bringing it to your attention because this is something that could get picked up by more mainstream blogs and news outlets.

The original information Church Militant is describing can be found here: https://www.synodresources.org/247276/

If Church Militant or other publications reach out to ask you questions, please make sure to reach out to me and the communication office before answering. Liz Chandler, the Communication Director, is copied to this email.

Yours,

Alessandro Rovati, Ph.D.

Synod Contact Person

Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte

Chair and Assistant Professor 

Theology Department

Belmont Abbey College

Arovati@rcdoc.org

https://charlottediocese.org/synod2023/

Diocesan Synod Meeting in Charlotte

I delayed my vacation with family to attend the Diocesan Synod Meeting for the Diocese of Charlotte. All went well. The tension between progressive and traditional was apparent, but tempered. Bishop Jugis stayed the entire time taking notes (which impressed me). I also saw the Vicar there. He attended representing his parish (Barnabas).

I was surprised that this meeting was really just another listening session with our parishes as the focus, and ending with Rovarti's address and Mass. I definitely felt the presence of the Holy Spirit throughout the day.

Here are the fruits of the all-parish listening session, with the focus on the main points:

Signs of the Lord's Presence (according to the diocese):

1. Eucharist, 2. Sacraments, 3. Rosary/Prayer/Adoration. These were followed closely by Suffering (which I found most interesting and true!), Family and Diversity.

Challenges (according to the diocese):

1. How to unify traditional vs. progressive without caving to secular culture. 2. Hypocrisy and scandal. 3. Exclusion of women & LGBTQ community. These were followed closely by a few more interesting challenges other parishes mentioned: suppression of critical thinking, racism, going through the motions, politics, and slow to acknowledge science.

Steps:

1.Welcoming to all with unity despite differences. 2. More synods (becoming a truly synodal church) So interesting! These main two were followed closely by better communication, accepting of new science, and rhe great need for small groups and retreats.

As you can see, our parish was right on par with the Diocese with all of these ideas.

Then Rovarti gave his address. 80% of parishes participated. There were 400 listening sessions in all with 7000 participants. (Unfortunately, that is only 3% participation by laypeople.) As Dr. Rovarti said, "Invite everyone. Expect noone." And he gave some testimonies, none of them controversial.

Rovarti’s summation is that there is a lot of distraction from Christ, our many cultures create both beauty and tension, that there is much internal division and polarization (especially with abortion, LGBTQ issues, women, and Varican II), and that better communication is needed among parishes, between parishes, and from the top-down.

He ended with a question that we should be asking: "Who are you to me? You are my brother/sister in Christ." And a question we should NOT be asking: "What is your position on ________."

Rovati concluded that the Holy Spirit is the answer.

You are welcome to share any of this you would like with the parish! The Synod will be completed in 2023.

I feel so honored to participate in this entire process!