Catholic Diocese Tucson

CATHOLIC OUTLOOK 13 SEPTEMBER 2019 know” that provides this service, Chisholm said. Chisholm has written several articles for the XSB’s Xavier Review , and some pieces in fiction. She has also led book discussions in her parish that includes participants who are not visually impaired. Malachy Fallon has been the executive director of Xavier for three years, joining the organization after a long career in the corporate world. He wanted to serve the Catholic visually impaired and blind community and felt compelled to join. “The most important thing was to work with an organization I could get behind,” he said. XBS includes 1,500 titles in its braille library and provides the Mass texts for nearly 800 people a month, an annual distribution of nearly 750,000 pages. It delivers to every state and 20 foreign countries. In the US, there tends to be a higher concentration of services in dioceses with higher Catholic populations and which include schools for the blind, he said. Although up to 80 percent of the available resources involve paper copies – such as braille or large print books – there is an increase in the number using a Digital Talking Book Format (DTBF) provided by the National Library Service for the Blind. Nearly 500,000 players have been distributed nationally, and there’s no way to know howmany are in the hands of Catholics in search of resources like those provided by the XBS, he said. Even with advances in technology, most Catholics seeking resources prefer braille or large print texts over audio texts, he said. “They say that reading is just a better experience for them.” Fallon noted that for audio files, the society also has a special relationship with St. Malachy Church, known as The Actor’s Church, in New York City. Close to Broadway, the parish coordinates volunteers from among stage actors to be dramatic readers of books being converted for audio files. The organization runs on a $1.5 million shoestring budget, raised through donations, and employs only six staff. club, aimed at women in their 30s and 40s, but ended up recasting it as Scripture discussion, with an audience of people in their 50s and 60s. Chapman noted that residences in the area are long-established family homes located on acre lots. St. Odilia’s was established in 1965, and the current church opened a few years later. It means that many of the same families that Chapman grew up with are still in the area, but much older. One parishioner has asked to try a “Mom and Me” group, which might attract other young families from outside the neighborhood to the area, but time will tell if that succeeds, Chapman said. Whenever she gets the chance, Chapman said, she encourages and invites families signing up for faith formation to attend Mass. The pastor, Father Miguel Mariano, is also the diocesan director of the Office of Worship. “We want people to come to Mass,” she said. The decline in Mass attendance, especially among young families, also is related to the increase in activities available to families today, Chapman said. Not only are sports on a year- round schedule in southern Arizona, but the availability of activities offered by the internet and social media has exploded. She cited a 16-year-old video gamer who just won a $3 million purse in an online world championship. “We didn’t have any of that growing up,” she said. Another challenging part of the ministry is staffing. Chapman said she just hired a part-time youth minister for St. Odilia’s, capping his hours at 15 a week. However, she knows that successful youth ministry means that he will likely be working twice as many hours, without getting paid for them. Her parish is one of the lucky ones. “A lot of parishes can’t afford paid youth ministers. They just use volunteers.” It’s not because the parish is too cheap to pay its staff; it simply doesn’t have the resources. The parish charges families $55 per child per semester to enroll in Faith Formation. With a parish “young family” population of about 120, it means that the general collection has to subsidize all the Faith Formation programs. “You are always looking at what you can afford,” she said. When something extraordinary comes up, special fund-raisers are introduced. For example, last year, St. Odilia’s sent four teens to the One Bread, One Cup Youth Liturgical Conference at St. Meinrad’s in Indiana. It cost $1,000, including airfare, for each one. Although special parish drives helped cover some of the expense, each participant also had to contribute. Chapman said that even with her experience, it is difficult to see how youth ministry might trend in another 20 years. She acknowledged that with more distractions and declines in Mass attendance, it might be difficult to see a way for things to turn around. That’s why, when she retires, she will likely volunteer in a ministry besides working with youths. “My heart is strong” for youth ministry, she said, “but you know when you’ve grown past it.” When youths get difficult, all you can do is “love them more,” said Susanna Chapman, faith formation director at St. Odilia Parish. HEART continued from page 12 By PEGGY GUERRERO JordanMinistry An interesting class assignment was to identify or create 10 phrases that captured the best ideas for leadership and keep them short enough to put on a bumper sticker. The challenge was to make themmeaningful and short, but at the same time to avoid clichés. My first choice was, “Never underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit.” All others seem to come under this umbrella phrase. As this was a class in a state university, I wondered what the reaction of the others in the class would be. From some classmates, there was agreement; from others, confusion. Another quote was from “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee, which describes a racially charged trial in Alabama in the 1930s. In the book, a judge states, “People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.” This tendency on our part to look for confirmation of what we already believe is challenged by Scripture. From Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel of the Old Testament, to Jesus’ words in the Gospels, we are reminded to look and truly see, and to listen and truly hear. It can be difficult to see and hear amid clutter and noise around us. The work that we do in all the spheres of our lives can be bombarded by challenges from the world. There is often a temptation to feel discouraged, and to even give in to that discouragement. In “The Shawshank Redemption” by Stephen King, Andy says to his friend Red, “Remember, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” We are a people of hope. We hope in the promise of theWord of God. We look for evidence of the promise that is good, and even when we struggle to find it, we live as a sign of that hope. By living in hope, we ourselves can become the sign of hope. St. Paul encourages us with the words, “Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rm 5:5). Never underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit. For information about Jordan Ministry Team’s offerings, visit jordanministry.org . Never underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit XBS includes 1,500 titles in its braille library and provides the Mass texts for nearly 800 people a month, an annual distribution of nearly 750,000 pages. XAVIER continued from page 9