2017_09-29-Eeditionc

Volume 83, Number 19 SEPTEMBER 29, 2017 T HE C ATHOLIC W EEK Official Publication of the Archdiocese of Mobile facebook.com/TheCatholicWeek twitter.com/TheCatholicWeek www.mobarch.org/catholicweek NATIONAL BLACKCATHOLICHISTORYMONTH Page 9 I NSIDE T HIS W EEK ByThe CatholicWeek MOBILE — The Archdiocese of Mobile will once again participate in Cross Catholic Outreach’s “Box of Joy” and there’s still time for parishes and schools to designate a coordinator and sign up. “Box of Joy” aims to give Christmas gifts to children in Guatemala, Haiti, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Participating groups within the archdiocese are asked to sign up by Sept. 30 at http://www.crosscatholic.org/boxofjoyparishes and set a goal of how many boxes to order. ‘Box of Joy’ returns to serve children Archdiocese has been strong supporter of Cross Catholic Outreach ministry Children in Haiti prepare to open the “Box of Joy” they received in March. Photo by Rob Herbst The Catholic Week See BOX, Page 2 By ROBHERBST The Catholic Week Father Gordon Milsted recalled then- seminarian Stanley Rother as simply be- ing a “friendly guy.” Little did Fr. Milsted know that one of his classmates was on the path to sainthood. Fr. Milsted and now-Blessed Stanley Rother were in the same graduating class of 23 seminarians in 1963 at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. Nearly 20,000 filled the Cox Conven- tion Center in Oklahoma City on Sept. 23 for Blessed Rother’s Beatification Mass and many more followed from a distance, including Fr. Milsted, now re- tired and living in Atmore. Blessed Rother was murdered in 1981 as he served at a mission in Gua- temala sponsored by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. He is the first rec- ognized martyr to have been born in the U.S. Fr. Milsted celebrated Mass last weekend at St.Robert Bellarmine Parish in Atmore and said he recol- lected about Blessed Rother. “It was very inspiring to think I was living with a saint and a mar- tyr,” Fr. Milsted said. “We had no idea. I kind of tell people that they themselves could be sitting in the pew with a martyr or saint right now. I didn’t have any idea any of us would be saints. We were just See BLESSED ROTHER, Page 13 ON PATH TO SAINTHOOD Fr. Milsted fondly recalls seminary classmate Blessed Stanley Rother By ROB HERBST The Catholic Week MOBILE — The Filipi- no community in the Arch- diocese of Mobile comes to- gether every first Saturday of the month to celebrate Mass at St.Monica Parish. But the celebration on Sept. 23 was a little more grand. Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi joined the community to commemorate San Lo- renzo Ruiz and San Pedro Calungsod, the first two canonized saints from the Philippines. Both were lay- men catechists who were martyred in the 17th cen- tury, but only recently can- onized — San Lorenzo Ruiz in 1987 by Pope John Paul II and San Pedro Calungsod in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. San Lorenzo Ruiz’s feast day is Sept. 28. Philippines natives Rev. Lito Capeding, pastor of Shrine of the Holy Cross Coming together to honor their own For more on Beatification of Blessed Stanley Rother, see Page 13 See SAINTS, Page 12 Filipino community celebrates Philippines’ first two saints Anniversary of the final public apparition of Fatima Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament — Friday, Oct. 13 Pages 10-11 Archdiocese to celebrate on Nov. 4 at Catherdral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception