Finding "Shalom" in Chicago

Prayers of young adults in a remote village in 
Kerala, India, reached Chicago this weekend.
Photo of a Keralan houseboat by Wesley Olson

(I podcasted this post for SQPN-affiliated "Catholic Vitamins" show, Vitamin X -- for eXtra5. My "Missionary Moments" piece plays towards the last 1/4 of the hour-long show.)

A couple weeks back, just 25 people had registered for a conference hosted by a Catholic non-profit called Shalom World Ministries. In a grassroots effort, locals told friends and family, notices appeared in parish bulletins, and teams visited prayer groups and parishes across Chicagoland – all with this invitation: "Something incredible is coming to Chicago that will impact the world. Come and see."

On Saturday August 24, 2013, on the Feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, 700 people, natives of Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, gathered in a high school auditorium in Chicago suburban Park Ridge. Flanked by flags of all nations, they spent 12 hours in praise, worship and reflection, led by a team of internationally-known clergy and religious, musicians and lay evangelists called by a new term – techno-evangelists.

Shalom World's new logo features a chalice
within a dove, reflecting openness to the
Holy Spirit and a love for Christ in the
Eucharist.
 

An inspired worship band from Canada called All4Him played, as participants gathered singly, in twos or threes, in families, until the auditorium was packed shoulder-to-shoulder. I was there because I’m a Facebook fan of Catholic singer songwriter Danielle Rose. A Facebook friend of Danielle’s sent me an invitation and some exciting news. Joe Scaria wrote:

“I belong to a new Catholic ministry in USA named Shalom World Ministries. Our mission is to use all sorts of media to evangelize and spread the gospel. Our roots are from India and our television channel 'Shalom TV' is the biggest catholic TV in India…We are launching Shalom TV in English next year beginning in USA and our first regional conferences are starting this year. I request your prayers and support for our ministry. Please consider joining our upcoming conference in Chicago."


I went alone and had those awkward first moments when everyone around seems to know everyone else. But then a nice lady sat next to me. She hailed from Kerela, India, which set us chatting, since I have missionary priest friends from Kerala and Pondicherry. We laughed as I tried reading the many-syllabled name off her name tag and pronouncing the name of her identity and language. The Malayalese from Kerala speak Malayalam.

All4Him out of Canada leads praise and worship 
at the Chicago area Shalom Festival August 24.

My new friend said to call her "Kathy," and explained that her “house name” ended with Amma, an affectionate term for female relatives, often used for a mother or grandma. 

As the day progressed, I learned Shalom World Ministries was rooted in a remote village in Kerala. Young Catholics in prayer received this Holy Spirit message: Global troubles stem from a lack of peace within families and human hearts. The world needs Christ’s peace, spread through every means of modern communication.

This echoes the call of our beloved Pope John Paul the Great, who urged Catholics to not be afraid, to step out into the deep in spreading the light of Christ to the world, using every modern means.

Shalom means peace…and the growth of Shalom World Ministries over the past two decades has been miraculous, with the founding of a publishing house for faith-filled books and Shalom Tidings Magazine, and the launching of Catholic television stations in India and across the world. In 2014, the first English-language Shalom Catholic Charismatic television station offering high definition programming is being launched in North America, with eight production houses in the U.S. and four in Canada. Operating 24/7, the network will be bolstered by prayer teams interceding around the clock before the Blessed Sacrament and receiving prayer intentions from faithful viewers.

In 2014, the first English-language Shalom Catholic charismatic TV station is being launched in North America.

The Vatican and bishops around the world are blessing and praying for this new outreach, which bears the marks of a fresh breath of the Holy spirit. Speakers yesterday included Bishop Francis Kane, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago; Fr.George Kumblumootil, Dean of Theology at St. Charles Seminary in the Archdiocese of Nagpur, India; former volleyball star turned nun Sister Miriam James Heidland, of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity out of Ohio; international model-turned lay-evangelist and media producer Mario St. Francis; and Robert Canton, fondly called “Brother Bob,” a native of the Philippines, who has an international ministry of healing and is Council Member of the Vatican-based International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services , representing English-speaking North America, Central America, and Caribbean countries.


The absolute highlights of this Shalom Festival were the solemn Mass that launched the event, and the healing service that evening, centered around Eucharistic adoration. Hundreds of people dropped to their knees and reached hands toward the Eucharist in a gesture of complete abndonment to God’s Will. The theme throughout the day centered around Romans 8:31: "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

Bishop Kane spoke of Paul’s audacity in spreading this message, when he himself had suffered shipwrecks, stoning, imprisonment -- and how that pointed to a deep, abiding and supernatural trust in God’s workings. Sister Miriam spoke of every person’s desire for greatness as children of an infinitely great God, and how the Church leads us to harmony of intellect, will and emotion. Bob Canton described the gifts of the Holy Spirit just waiting to be unleashed in our lives, and how the key to true healing is forgiveness, of others and ourselves. Fr. Kumblumootil gave a powerful talk about the right and obligation of every Christian to evangelize, and that our spiritual anchor must be Christ in the Eucharist. 

In fact, every speaker highlighted this theme: when we awake each morning, we must first run to the Eucharistic Lord with a childlike faith. Also, to spread peace in the world and reach a state of true forgiveness, we should consider that when someone is hurting us, God is asking us to cooperate with their salvation.

Shalom Festivals are coming to Miami, New York, Houston, Orange and San Jose through September.

In the sweet, uplifting way of the Holy Spirit, encounters through the day form some of my best memories. One Filipino lady named Nieva, which she explained means, “new,” invited me to her Carmelite prayer group. A mother of six in the restoom line, told me a powerful story of converting to the Catholic Church, after dreaming about men in funny hats…who she later learned were bishops. She also described being drawn into a deep love of Jesus through the Blessed Mother. She now feels compelled to share her story, in spite of a fear of public speaking. I took a photo of a young woman in a beautiful Indian Salwar Kameez, who worked with computers, but had turned to writing to share  her story of conversion for the March Shalom Tidings Magazine. 

At 9:30 PM, I reached my car and sat for ten minutes. I could not drive away, until I walked back in, asked Bob Canton for a final prayer, and then told several Shalom workers of how priests from India had changed my life -- one priest from Pondicherry serving at my parish had asked me to "write for India." Another from Kerala echoed this call, sharing tales of his spirit-filled outreach to the poor in his adopted mission diocese of Visakhapatnam.

Shalom -- an intiative sprung from a hidden group of young adults from that remote village of Kerala, is setting many hearts on fire with love for God. The bishops are doing it and we should too…daily pray for Shalom World Ministries to spread Christ’s peace across the globe.

Finding friendship across the globe

Photo by Marianna Bartholomew

Bridging souls

Peace

Fragile

As gauze

Tossed

It hovers

Shimmers

Shades

India's Godavari River

Sturdy

As sailcloth

Woven by those

Determined

To keep it

Billowing

Propelling

Directing

Into headwind

Driving

Through currents

And waves

Untorn

In skilled hands

 

Andhra Pradesh, India

Peace

Multi-hued

As Joseph’s coat

Saffron and indigo

Of India

Ever-green

Red, white, blue

Of America

Scarlet as patriots’

And martyrs’ blood

Snowy as bridal veils

And baptismal gowns

Pure

With threads of gold

Embroidered

  

Peace

Peace--made up of threads of
every warp and weave

Layered

As tapestry

Interwoven

On one side, complex

Threads of every

Warp and weave

Knots

Unravelings

On the other, smooth

Fine

As infant hair

Peace

Fragile

Sturdy

Colorful

Complex

Smooth

Close

As a handshake

Friend’s embrace

Lover’s kiss

Essential

As air

By Marianna Robin Bartholomew

For V and ever-green peace

Being friends with a missionary priest in India motivates me to daily prayer for world peace as never before. When political or inter-religious tensions erupt in his state of Andhra Pradesh, I especially plead with heaven.

My friend lives across the Atlantic Ocean and two seas, off the Bay of Bengal. Before we met, I didn’t know this was the largest bay in the world.

My family's friend, Fr. Varghese.
Shown here visiting with
Sr. Mary Prema Pierick,
Superior General of the 
Missionaries of Charity of 
Calcutta.

Perspective. My friend offers this to my family and me daily. The world is so much larger than suburban America. Our videochats and online texts keep my husband, children and I on our toes, as we learn to communicate with someone so different and yet similar to ourselves.

Personally, I am led to astonishment at stories of the poor’s resilience and courage, awe at the workings of Providence, dismay at people’s misjudgments and cruelty regarding caste or religious discrimination, and deep laughter at ridiculous daily happenings that cross every cultural divide.

When Fr. V. tells me he killed a cobra in his bathroom or that his cow Gowry escaped, I shudder at the first and am thrilled when the cow is found in deep forest 10 kilometers away, before locals can carve her up for market. When 116.6-degree F. temps hit east central India and more than 100 people died of heatstroke, I prayed for cooling breezes across the continent. Last night, I learned landslides had killed 700 people in northern India. My sympathy is real, and that sense of mortality and immediacy is good for the soul.

I am convinced. Everyone could benefit by nurturing a friend across the globe.

Who is your friend? I’d love to hear stories. Perhaps you've welcomed an exchange student or are supporting a poor widow or schoolchild in Guatamala or Uganda. How much nicer the world would be if we could all bridge cultures in this way. Write letters. Safely connect through a trustworthy organization. But don’t deprive yourself of becoming important to someone across the world.

Peace? I am friends with someone in a “hot spot,” a region of grinding poverty and troubled peace. Oh…may friendship and love overcome every need and divide in this world!

Philippians 4:7 “Then the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Father Varghese and I coauthor a blog that highlights his people and missions at Dalitjournal.blogspot.com. Drop on by!

Find balance before you click

Printable version here.

Pope Francis to cardinals: 'I hope God forgives you' :: EWTN News

Photo by Presidencia da Republica/
Roberto Stuckert Filho

Pope Francis to cardinals: 'I hope God forgives you' :: EWTN News

http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/Vatican.php?id=7236

http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/Vatican.php?id=7236

From New Year's to Lenten Resolutions

Good-bye Shire Breakfast,
hello, fasting...(no one could
eat this much in one sitting
anyway, right?)

A couple days before New Year's, my husband and I went out for a "Shire Breakfast." Denny's was featuring a menu with dishes spun off the "Hobbit," the newly-released movie based on J.R.R. Tolkien's classic tale. Saturday breakfast Bartholomew-style means heading out into pre-daylight. After 23 years of marriage, my husband has converted me. It's either roll out of bed around 5:30 AM and venture forth into that bleary-eyed world, or lose that breakfast connection with him.

I've been walking about 2 1/2 miles to and from Mass 
in all weather thanks to a New Year's Resolution.

On this particular day, we hid in a corner booth. The waitress chatted with us about "Shire" selections and our favorite Tolkien scenes from his novel, as she plied us with coffee. Continuing the epic flare of our conversation as we tucked away pumpkin pancakes and "Shire sausage," we discussed New Year's Resolutions. At one point, my husband said, "There's no reason why you can't go to daily Mass."

With his work downtown and needing to catch an early train, my husband hasn't chosen this option, but he challenged me.

"But every time I try to do that, I get sick," I protested. After about one week adding Mass to an already tight schedule, I usually find myself battling sore throats, sinus infections, etc.

I walk past this historic house connected 
with author Ernest Hemingway after Mass
on my way to town. A cheerful sight 
each morning!

"Well," he countered. "Maybe it's time you tried again."

After breakfast we headed to Home Depot, a peaceful destination at that hour and season. We rambled along together, until Ed got caught in the mousetrap aisle. An amazing end-of-season sale drew me to houseplants.

One tropical plant as tall as my waist beckoned. The price was ridiculously low. Amidst our winter's deep freeze, wouldn't some jungle-like foliage be welcome? Also, it would nicely remind me of my new connections in India (Pray the News in 2013).

The plant needed a larger pot, threatening to make the whole project too expensive. I lined up several plants in the aisle. Several pots. Crossed my arms. Frowned. A middle-aged woman in the orange Home Depot apron popped around the corner. "Can I help?"

I've been taking good care of my new
umbrella plant.

She joined my search, shuffling pots, checking price tags, climbing on all fours into the back of deep shelving units. She finally found a great deal.


"I'll pot your plant for you," she offered.

"Free?"

"Absolutely."

Thus began a lengthy process of emptying three new bags of soil into the pot, loosening my plant's root ball, and positioning it absolutely straight and centered, a task she approached like an interior decorator hanging wallpaper. 

There are master chefs and master painters. I was watching a master planter. She poured in several $6-7 bags of soil and tapped the pot gently onto the floor to disperse it gently around the rootball. She repeated the process once, twice, then again. She opened a $6 bag of sphagnum moss. I wondered how Home Depot was making money on this deal. 

"You're potting this for free, right?"

"Oh, yes."

I'm doing well with all my houseplants this winter.
For someone who loves gardening, I have a bad track
record with keeping indoor plants alive. Maybe 2013
will change all that. :)

The result? You judge, but we think our new "umbrella plant" looks great!

Over these past weeks, I've often thought about that Home Depot lady. She was professional but warm. She cheerfully crawled around the floor and dug in dirt to make customers happy. She treated that plant like her own. I hope I treat others with such care and dignity. I wouldn't have gotten the plant without her help, and it has become a nice reminder of a number of things: the impact of treating people well, the gift of cross-continental friendship and -- a reminder of a significant morning.

You see, that Shire Breakfast started me off in a new direction. The New Year's Resolution conversation was a watershed, launching me off like Tolkien's Frodo on a quest -- walking to and attending daily Mass each morning. How have I been doing?

Through January, I attended Mass every Sunday and weekday, taking off Saturdays to recover. Hurray! Now this brisk early-morning walk to Mass is so embedded in my daily schedule, I feel off keel on Saturdays when I miss the opportunity. 

But I can't get cocky.  February hit and I felt my energy dip, as I rolled out of bed just 20 minutes before departure. A few days ago, I started feeling under the weather, fighting off chills just in time for Lent. But I'm determined. I was healthy for six weeks of daily Mass attendance, and feeling great as I shuffled through snow to make that 6:15 AM appointment with God. I'm recognizing people in the pews and giving my own version of the papal wave as we all wish each other peace. 

My mom prayed this novena
when deciding whether or not
to marry my father -- a widow
15 years her senior with four
children, aged 9 and under.
She prayed it again to plead
heaven's aid in conceiving my
older brother.

Keeping in the flow of the liturgical year is so beautiful...noting daily saints and reflecting on the readings being offered in every Catholic church world-wide. But most importantly, receiving the daily Eucharist changes the whole focus of the day. As soon as I post this blog, I'm going to go get more Vitamin C! No, I can't let illness deter me...

As for Lenten Resolutions besides daily Mass? I may be choosing too many! I've added prayers to my routine over the past month, becoming better friends with Sts. Raphael and Jude, and the Blessed Mother (through her 54-day Rosary Novena). I'd like to continue with the prayers (posted below), keep up a daily rosary, go off desserts, and give up clutter in my house. And one more. As I go about my days, may I lavish others with the consideration and joy of a "master planter." 

Prayer to St. Raphael -- Patron of Travelers and Bearers of the Good News

St. Raphael, archangel, you protected young Tobiah as he journeyed to a distant land. Protect all travelers and most especially those who go about near and far preaching the Gospel. Guide and inspire modern apostles who use the communications media to bring the Good News of Christ to many souls. 

You also brought healing and joy to all you met. Help those who bring the Word of God to souls, that they may be as instruments in God's hands to draw many to lives of Christian holiness.

We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.

© Daughters of St. Paul

Prayer to St. Jude

Most holy apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honors and invokes you universally as the patron of hope. Pray for me when I feel helpless and alone. Please make use of that particular privelege given to you, to bring hope and comfort and help where they are needed most. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven in my tribulations and sufferings, particularly (here make your request). I promise, blessed St. Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor, to always honor you as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you. Amen.

From National Shrine of St. Jude/Claretian Missionaries

Pray the News in 2013

Illustration by Erin Bartholomew
My family is "praying the news" more often now that we have a friend in India. My daughter drew an "Indian Nativity," and we reached out to an Indian priest at our parish, who invited us to help him edit a newsletter to raise funds for schools he founded to serve "untouchables" in India. (See St. Patrick's Academy website here.)

As we leap into 2013, let's make a new resolution to pray the news. For some, checking daily news is as natural as morning coffee. But many become distracted by family needs and life's busyness, and lag in keeping up with local, national and international events. To impact our world in profound and practical ways, we must reach beyond the borders of our homes and communities. 

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta invited people to start within their own circles in serving the lonely and vulnerable. Sometimes we miss poverty right within our families because it comes in such everyday guise. Offering a healing touch and attentiveness to that teen in our life who is shut behind a closed bedroom door, can free them to sanely ponder life's big questions. Honoring our mother and father, especially as they advance in age and frailty, deepens us. Welcoming each little one into our midst with patience stretches us to the point of heroism. Each daily, practical act to make someone feel loved and cared for answers Mother Teresa's call to serve the mission field right in front of our noses. 

My daughter's drawing helped spread
the joy of Christmas through a newsletter 
written by an Indian priest at our parish. We never 
know what little niche we can help fill. 
We only have to show concern and ask.

But in the course of our day, we should expand our reach, exploring regional and international news. We need this context to live informed lives. Praying the news can happen in one session as we read it, or throughout the day, as we go about our tasks. We can pray for those suffering intolerance in some distant land, and pray for areas wracked by disaster, war, famine, or unrest. We can target specific nations, towns and individuals by name, and pray for world leaders, asking that they be guided by God's wisdom. 

Perhaps if we get so specific, if we yearn for peace in foreign lands, it will help feed our desire for peace within our own homes and neighborhoods. And of course, as we fuel peace in our homes, that spirit will permeate our neighborhoods and the world. In 2013, let's become active, prayerful agents of peace.

Through the years, I've prayed and sent funds for tsunami, earthquake or war victims, and the sense of connection with others in distant areas has been strong...but temporal. I pray for a time, and then the need slips into obscurity as news coverage fades. But it's different this year. A missionary priest from India befriended me about four months ago, and now that whole nation has come alive for me. As I daily pray for my new friend's needs as he serves five rural outposts around Andhrah Pradesh, I've become more sensitive to the needs of India as a whole. 

When India's  Godavari River overflowed this year,
my friend Father Varghese Kalapurakudiyil
carried people to safety, fed the hungry and housed
150 homeless at his little church. He and his people 
have inspired my family and friends, opening our eyes to a
whole world of perseverance, courage, and faith in a distant land.
Photo courtesy of Fr. Varghese Kalapurakudiyil.

I keep a binder of photos that my new friend Father Varghese emails me, and bought a map of India to study. I dip into The Times of India,  the BBC online, and other websites for news. So, when my friend mentioned flooding in his area, I turned to the internet to see pictures of the worst flooding to hit Andhrah Pradesh in 20 years. That news never seemed to make the U.S. media outlets. I needed to turn to online articles and video news reports from Indian broadcasters, to learn more about the Godavari waters that ebbed and flowed from September through November. As many as 95,000 residents were displaced and housed in refugee tents, in a Biblical-scale event impacting a vast swath of the eastern Indian coast. 

Just weeks after flood waters dried, another event rocked that nation, that actually did hit news outlets like The New York Times, and sparked debates about the treatment of women in this second most-populated nation in the world. Protests erupted across India after a 23-year-old paramedical student was brutally gang-raped then thrown off a bus in Delhi. The young woman struggled for her life for nearly two weeks, before suffering massive organ shut-down and succumbing to infection from her injuries yesterday. 

Now, don't we have enough problems without joining in so actively in the pain of a distant land? No, we should stay concerned! Our destinies in this age of mobility and connectivity are entwined. Over the weekend, articles ran in The New York Times, The Times of India and other news outlets about a sickening hate crime committed when a 31-year-old woman in Queens, New York pushed a 46-year-old Hindu from India to his death under a subway train. Arrested on 2nd-degree murder charges, she admitted to "beating" on Muslims and Hindus ever since the September 11th attacks on the Twin Towers. We can't ignore such simmering bigotry in our midst. Will we, too, join the ranks of haters, or work toward the eradication of terrorism in all its forms -- even the impulse toward racism and violence that lurks within our own breast?

Staying informed about global issues can help us relate to that co-worker or neighbor from another nation. Keeping our eyes open and our minds active in pondering solutions to problems -- both local and global --  puts us in a state of being informed and, perhaps, able to make a difference. Sometimes violent plots are foiled by people having their eyes and ears open. Other times, real, substantive help occurs after certain connections are made. We hear about a specific need overseas. We happen to know someone who is an expert in that field and give them an alert. Next thing we know, certain solutions are being offered. Such global concern has led to wells being dug for needy communities, war orphans being adopted, and medical professionals forming teams to offer services to remote villages. I was exhilarated when my friends and local contacts mobilized for my priest friend in Andhrah Pradesh, sending him funds to buy a cow for a needy elderly couple, and blankets for the elderly in his struggling villages.

So, in 2013, let's take good care of our own. Let's serve well those suffering within our reach, and in our own families, neighborhoods and nation. But then let's expand our horizons, open our minds, and ponder and pray over needs beyond our borders. Who knows? Our one small voice united to another's could spark a trend. Let's make 2013 notable for how well we respond to God's call to be peacemakers. Let's not limit ourselves to what our puny imaginations can comprehend, but let God call us forth into His vision of peace for humanity.