'What are your spiritual goals for 2016?'
CHARLOTTE — For Catholics, New Year's Day is more than just a day to make resolutions. It's a day to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Mother of God and consider ways to imitate her virtues to grow in holiness and in deeper communion with her Son, Jesus Christ.
"Have you decided on your goals for the year 2016?" asked Bishop Peter Jugis during his homily Jan. 1 at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte. "We've got to have goals. We've got to have something to work toward to keep us moving forward – otherwise, we just stay in one place."
For those who may be seeking spiritual goals during 2016 Bishop Jugis offered these five suggestions: "Read the Bible more often or do spiritual reading. Pray the rosary more often, or other prayers or novenas. Make a Holy Hour at the Adoration Chapel. Make more frequent confessions to grow in holiness. Make a better preparation for Mass by reading the scripture readings and thinking about them before coming to Mass."
It's important to remember that the ultimate goal of our lives is heaven, he stressed. It's essential we make progress every day towards attaining that goal, because we never know when God may call us from this life.
Bishop Jugis recalled that St. John Paul II said at the beginning of the new millennium, the Jubilee of 2000, the first priority of every person should be holiness.
"To achieve that goal of holiness, he said that all of our parishes should be schools of prayer where we are constantly growing in holiness," Bishop Jugis noted. "So, taking a cue from our beloved St. John Paul II, how about holiness as a spiritual goal for 2016?"
Holiness is a gift we receive at our baptism when sanctifying grace is infused into our souls and we become followers of Christ, he explained. At that moment we are joined to Christ and a life of holiness – very different from other paths available in this world.
As we grow and practice our faith, we build upon that foundation of holiness, he continued – every time we go to confession, every time we receive the Eucharist, every time we pray.
"The Blessed Mother, whom we honor today on her feast day, also received holiness as a gift, a most extraordinary gift that she above all other humans received – the gift of perfect holiness," he said. "From the very first moment, she is the Immaculate Conception, entering life without sin."
Mary is the perfect example of holiness and the best teacher for our "schools of prayer," he said.
He pointed out that the Gospel reading describes how the shepherds heard the angel's message and sought out the infant Jesus, adding, "And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart."
"What is she reflecting upon?" he asked. "Really, she is reflecting on the Mystery of Christ that she has been privileged to carry and bring into the world. If you think about it, that is what we are privileged to do every time we pray the rosary. We are reflecting on the Mystery of Christ, the same Christ whom we have been privileged to welcome into our own soul, into our own lives at our baptism, and every day that we receive the Holy Eucharist – Jesus really, substantially, coming to live in our souls, into our lives."
"May the Blessed Mother pray for us as we pursue the worthy goal of holiness this New Year 2016," he prayed. "Life is so much better with Jesus as an active presence in our daily life."
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
ASHEVILLE — Refugees fleeing religious persecution in Eastern Europe are finding a new home in Asheville, thanks to a new program of Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte.
Catholic Charities has resettled 38 refugees since July 1 from Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine through its Remote Placement Program, a joint partnership with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the U.S. State Department that is an expansion of its existing refugee resettlement program in Charlotte.
The Asheville refugees are a bit different than the typical refugees its Charlotte office assists, however: most have family members already here who can help them when they arrive.
“Each of these refugees is coming to the U.S. because a family member completed an affidavit of relationship through the Lautenberg Program, a program that began in 1989 to help someone living in the U.S. to bring over a relative living in the former Soviet Union,” said Susan Jassan, program director for Catholic Charities.
Catholic Charities expects to assist a total of 99 refugees with this program by the end of November.
The federal Lautenberg Program is now closed, Jassan added, but there is a possibility it could reopen in January.
Staff in Catholic Charities’ Asheville office are busy assisting the recent refugees with basic services including cultural orientation, completing legal paperwork, signing up for English classes, registering children for school, setting up medical appointments, and helping them with housing, food and clothing assistance when needed.
“Last week we had six families arrive on the same day!” said Marina Gundorin, immigration supervisor for the Asheville office. “It was very crazy. The first flight arrived around 1:45 p.m. (Aug. 23) and the last flight came in around midnight.”
In many cases, Catholic Charities staff are present when the refugees arrive at the Asheville airport. In other cases, the refugees’ American relatives help them when they step off the plane.
The Kulbeda family arrived Aug. 20 from Belarus. The family of six led by mother Liudmila, 31, and her husband, Aleh, 33, sought a better life for their four children, who are aged 2-9. They are Pentecostal Christians reuniting with their family, fleeing religious persecution at home, and have waited two years to come to the U.S.
Liudmila’s grandparents, whom they had not seen for 10 years, served as their family connection for their refugee application and are currently providing them with a place to live. They were able to bring only one bag per person on their flight to the U.S., so they are starting over from scratch.
“We are very happy to be here with family,” they said through interpreter Marina Gundorin. “There are a lot of new things to learn.”
The Kulbedas were thrilled that there is a community of similar refugees already in Asheville and that Catholic Charities staff spoke their language.
“When you come to a new, unknown place where you do not understand anything and all of a sudden someone speaks and you understand! That’s huge! And then they help you!
“We felt a lot of support and encouragement from the office,” they said.
The Kulbeda children began elementary school with the other children in their area Aug. 29, but unlike their classmates they do not yet speak English. Special accommodations for English as a Second Language classes are being made for them.
“So (the) parents are very worried and anxious about the kids,” Gundorin explained.
Catholic Charities was able to provide three backpacks and school supplies for the children to help ease their transition.
The universal language of toys seems to be a big hit with the children so far.
“They especially like all the toys that they have never seen before,” Liudmila said.
Aleh, the father, is a carpenter and hopes to find employment quickly.
When asked what he and Liudmila hope for their family, Aleh replied, “to learn English and have our own, safe home.” They also hope someday to afford a washer and a dryer to do their laundry.
Asheville has a housing shortage, Gundorin explained, with a 98 percent occupancy rate, which means “it’s a tremendous challenge to find an apartment or anything to rent, so for right now, they are living with grandparents.”
Still, Gundorin said, she is very pleased with the larger Asheville community’s reception of the new arrivals.
“We have so much community support,” she said.
“This program is prompting us to make partnerships in the community. The Department of Social Services, the local community, medical community, college community – all have partnered with us.”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
Pictured: Three members of the Pavlov family arrived from Ukraine at the Asheville airport Aug. 23. Serhii, Svitlana and their daughter Milana joined members of their extended family who have moved to the U.S. for a better life. Serhii’s brother applied to bring the young family to the U.S. (Photo provided by Kelly Matsey)