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January 22, 2019 | The Valley Catholic
IN THE CHURCH
Faith Is Passed on at Home, Pope Tells Parents at Baptism
By Junno Arocho Esteves
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Faith isn’t
something learned just by studying the
catechism but rather is a gift passed
on to children by the example of their
parents, Pope Francis said.
Although children learn the tenets
of the Catholic faith in catechism class,
it is first transmitted in the home e-
cause faith always must be transmitted
in dialect: the dialect of the family, the
dialect of the home, in the atmosphere
of the home,” he said before baptizing
27 babies.
The pope celebrated the Mass and
baptisms January 13, the feast of the
baptism of the Lord, in the Sistine
Chapel.
The im ortant thing is to transmit
the faith with your life of faith: that
they see the love between spouses, that
they see peace at home, that they see
that Jesus is there,” Pope Francis said
during his brief and unscripted homily.
As the lively sounds of babies’
Pope Francis baptizes one of 27 babies during a Mass on the feast of the Baptism of the
Lord in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican Jan. 13. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
s ueals and cries filled the frescoed
Sistine Chapel, the pope said babies
often cry when they are in an environ-
ment that is strange” or because they
are hungry.
Repeating his usual advice to moth-
ers of infants, the pope urged them to
make their children comfortable, and
if they cry ecause they are hungry,
breastfeed them.”
hildren also have a oly honic
vocation: One begins to cry, then
Parish of Teen who Escaped Abduction Credits Power of Prayer
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- For nearly
three months, parishioners at St. Peter
Catholic Church in Cameron, Wiscon-
sin, were praying for the safe return of
one of their own -- 13-year-old Jayme
Closs.
When parishioners heard the news
that she had escaped her abductor Jan.
10 and was safe, their prayers switched
to gratitude.
The arish sign said, raise od
Welcome Home Jayme,” after its Mass
times listing. It joined dozens of mes-
sages that had sprung up in signs and
storefronts across the Wisconsin town
and neighboring towns cheering the
teen’s safety.
ur rayers have een answered
and God is good,” parishioner JoAnn
Trowbridge told the local NBC af-
filiate,
, after an.
ass at t.
Peter. She also said she thinks their
prayers may have been answered
ecause
od got sic of us nagging
him.”
t. eter, in the iocese of u erior,
is where Jayme attended religious
education classes and Mass with her
arents, ames and enise, who were
murdered Oct. 15, 2018. Their funeral
Mass was celebrated at the church
Oct. 27.
Superior Bishop James P. Powers
said in a Jan. 11 message to priests
and parish leaders that he hoped all
arishes would add a than sgiving
Wisconsin teen Jayme Closs is seen in this
U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation miss-
ing person poster. (CNS photo/FBI handout
via Reuters)
petition to God” during Masses that
Jayme was found alive and safe. He
said that during her nearly three-
month captivity, she had to endure
od nows what ind of hysical
and mental torture as we kept her in
our prayers asking for her safe return.”
e now want to ee her in our
prayers asking God’s healing touch
on her body, mind and spirit,” he said
in a message posted on the Facebook
page of the Catholic Herald, Superior’s
diocesan newspaper.
Jake Patterson, 21, has been charged
with couple’s murder and with kid-
napping Jayme, both of which he has
confessed to, according to a criminal
complaint released Jan. 14 by the Bar-
ron ounty istrict ttorney.
Jayme was found in the town of
Gordon, about 70 miles from her home
in Barron, when she escaped the cabin
in the woods where she had been held
for 88 days and met a woman walking
a dog who took her to a nearby home
and called police.
Ba r ron Cou nt y Sher i f f C h r i s
Fitzgerald told reporters when he
announced the teen’s return that she
was ac through the ho e and the
prayers in this community and what
everybody did.”
He also primarily praised the teen
saying he too that first ste . Ta ing
that step was just unbelievable.” He
said when people talk about this kind
of situation with their kids they need
to advise them
ever give u ho e,
keep your prayers alive. When you get
into a situation, you never give up.”
Jayme is currently staying with an
aunt. Her grandfather told The Associ-
ated ress that she is in exce tionally
good spirits.”
St. Peter Church will hold a special
service of Thanksgiving for her return
Jan. 20.
uring the arish’s an.
ass,
parishioners prayed for Jayme and her
family and for all who had searched
for the teen while she was missing.
They said they want her to know
of their support in the weeks, months
and years ahead, particularly that she
can handle this and get her life ac
together,” as one parishioner put it.
another makes a counterpoint, then
another and in the end, it is a chorus
of cries,” he said.
ffering a iece of advice to arents,
the pope called on them to pass on the
faith by letting their children see their
love and refrain from arguing in front
of them.
t is normal for cou les to argue,
it’s normal, he said.
o it, ut don’t
let them hear, don’t let them see. You
don’t know the anguish a child has
when he or she sees arents fighting.
This, I may add, is advice that will help
you transmit the faith.”
Later, after praying the Angelus
with pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square, Pope
Francis asked those gathered to pray
for the newly baptized babies and their
families. e also as ed them to ee
the memory of your own baptism alive.”
There you will find the roots of
our life in God; the roots of our eternal
life that Jesus has given us through
his incarnation, passion, death and
resurrection, he said.
ur roots are
in baptism.”
Despite comments
Against Bishops,
Duterte Open to Talks,
Spokesman says
MANILA, Philippines (CNS) -- Phil-
i ine resident odrigo uterte is
open to talking with church leaders,
his spokesman said after the presi-
dent called on people to kill and rob
isho s. uterte has long een at
odds with church leaders, who have
been critical of his war on narcotics
that has reportedly killed at least
20,000 people, reported ucanews.
com. uterte has re eatedly ac-
cused Catholic priests and bishops
of corruption and of sex abuse. The
resident is u for tal s, if that’s
what (church leaders) are asking for,”
said Salvador Panelo, who is also the
resident’s lawyer. nything that is
eneficial to the nation, the resident
is easy to talk to,” Panelo told report-
ers anuary
after uterte urged
eo le to ill and steal from rich
bishops.” Bishops Arturo Bastes
of Sorsogon and Ruperto Santos
of Balanga condemned the presi-
dent’s statements, describing them
as a solutely silly. isho
antos
said if the murderous words were
intended to e a o e, they are no
longer funny and do not deserve
laughs or applause from audiences
but condemnation.”