In his article “At Play in the House of the Lord,” author Ed Gamboa addresses this very topic. He writes of the joy he and his wife get from spending time and playing with their granddaughter. He then wonders why we all can’t have a similarly joyful and playful relationship with God. Surely God would welcome that.

Unfortunately, these days being playful is not our default mode. We cram our schedules—as well as our kids’ and grandkids’—full with work, appointments, activities, and more. In fact, according to a number of reports, 50 percent of American workers don’t even use their vacation time from work. Those same reports list the many negative impacts of people not taking time off.

The bottom line is, we need to play, and summertime is the perfect time to do it. So, in the words of the boys of summer: Let the kids play.

These holy women may not be in the forefront in Scripture, but they had a front-row seat to Jesus’ extraordinary life and ministry.

It requires a bit of detective work—pulling a few threads here, a few more there, and so on throughout the Gospels—to form a viewable tapestry of the holy Galilean women. However, by taking the time to delve into the verses on these women, this lovely group slowly comes into focus, and we can better learn to appreciate them for who they were and all they did for Jesus. St. Mary Magdalene, Blessed Joanna, Susanna, St. Salome, St. Mary of Clopas, and many others unnamed are indeed a special collection of women to know.

It is Luke who gives a formal introduction to these women. At the start of his eighth chapter, he presents them as a unique cluster from the region of Galilee who ministered to Jesus from “their resources.” Luke also lets us know that at least some of these women had suffered terribly and found healing.

We can only imagine the day-to-day lives of these women while they traveled with and assisted Jesus and the Twelve Apostles. Obviously, they had “resources” to spare. Perhaps it was strictly financial assistance that they gave. However, it seems possible that they helped with other things too—maybe they did some cooking, helped with laundry and mending, or nursed anyone who got sick. With a bit of imagination, it is easy to envision them helping in a variety of ways. These women most certainly gleaned some significant insights and understandings during their time of accompanying Christ. It would be nice to have more biblical elaboration on their roles, but we don’t.

After pondering their time going from town to town with Jesus and the apostles, Bible readers pretty much have to wait until the Passion narratives in each Gospel to read anything more about these women (a short narrative on St. Salome is one exception).

Their Home of Galilee

The region of Galilee was the site of many wonderful New Testament events: the Sermon on the Mount, the miracle of the wine at Cana, the healing of the centurion’s servant, and the Transfiguration—just to name a few. And, of course, Jesus’ childhood home in Nazareth was in Galilee as well. This collection of women is another star for this region west of the Sea of Galilee.

St. Mary Magdalene

Poor Mary Magdalene has been stuck for centuries now with the reputation of having been a prostitute. In reality, though, all we know for sure about her past is that she had been burdened with seven demons that had left her—under the authority of Jesus (Lk. 8:2 & Mk. 16:9).

During the early medieval days, Pope Gregory the Great once connected Mary Magdalene to a passage shortly before Luke’s formal introduction to the Galilean women (Lk 7:36-39). In it, a sinful woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and then anointed them with a flask of ointment is presented.

Evidently, the pope had a hunch that the sin of this woman was prostitution and that she was likely the same as Mary Magdalene, who is mentioned just 12 verses later. Pope Gregory the Great (who we must remember really did do many “great” things) also linked Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany. These well-intentioned ideas stuck for a long time.

You still don’t have to go far to find someone who thinks Mary Magdalene was undoubtedly a prostitute and the same as Mary of Bethany. Many now assert that seven demons may actually represent mental illness—not prostitution. And most conclude that Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, and the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears are most likely three separate women.

Of all the holy Galilean women, Mary Magdalene is the most prominent. Three evangelists name her specifically as being at the Crucifixion, two at the burial, and all four Gospel writers put Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb. Matthew, Mark, and John also assert that she saw and spoke to the risen Christ.

Blessed Joanna

Joanna is the next Galilean woman Luke introduces. Little is said about Joanna, but the brief mention that Luke presents offers an intriguing clue. He included the fact that Joanna had a close connection to Herod Antipas the Tetrarch, who had John the Baptist beheaded. Joanna was the wife of Herod’s steward, Chuza.

Being a steward, Chuza likely had the responsibility of overseeing Herod’s estate, a job that surely demanded a certain loyalty to this ruler. One can only guess how Joanna managed to support her husband and follow Jesus without any conflict. Perhaps Joanna and her husband were present at the ill-fated birthday banquet. Maybe they heard Herod’s order for the beheading of John the Baptist and perhaps even saw the gruesome platter. We can only wonder.

Joanna is mentioned by name only one other time in the Bible—Luke lists her as one of the women who went to the tomb on the day of the Resurrection.

According to Luke, Joanna—along with other women of Galilee—saw two men in dazzling clothes at Jesus’ empty tomb, learned of Christ’s resurrection, and shared the great news with the apostles—who did not believe them! Although Joanna’s name is never mentioned again, it is reasonable to consider that she was likely a part of the group whenever there is a general reference to the Galilean women.

In the current Roman Martyrology, Joanna is listed as a blessed, rather than a saint. This is hard to discern; in the earliest days of the Church, the words blessed, holy, and saint were often used interchangeably. So you might see Joanna listed as a saint in some resources and as a blessed in others, similar to the way we call Mary the Blessed Virgin Mary or St. Mary.

It’s impossible to know with certainty what exactly was meant. Was Joanna considered an official saint in heaven or just a really good and pious person (perhaps not martyred)? Either way, she gave much and is an inspiration to all.

Blessed/St. Joanna’s memorial is May 24.

St. Salome

It is Mark and Matthew who let us know that Salome is another holy woman of Galilee. Mark provides us with her name—within his Crucifixion and Resurrection narratives. Matthew, who calls her “the mother of the sons of Zebedee,” gives an additional, somewhat amusing account of St. Salome. In his 20th chapter, he relates how this mother of two apostles—James the Greater and John the Evangelist—had big ideas for her sons and boldly requested: “Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom” (Mt 20:21).

Of course, Jesus took the opportunity to preach on the importance of humility and that serving others would count for more than grand places of honor.

St. Salome is listed on the April 24 page of the Roman Martyrology.

Susanna

Susanna is mentioned one time only—in Luke’s introduction to the Galilean women. So we can only glean that she, like Mary Magdalene and Joanna, had been cured of some demon or malady, traveled with Jesus and the apostles, and offered assistance in whatever way she could. Susanna was credibly present at the Crucifixion, burial, and empty tomb. It would be nice to know more, but we just don’t.

Susanna is not listed in the current Roman Martyrology; however, that does not exclude her from sainthood. Actually, if you were to attend Mass at a Byzantine Catholic church two Sundays after Easter, you would notice that Susanna is given special notice and is commemorated as a part of a group called the Holy Myrrhbearers.

St. Mary of Clopas

St. Mary of Clopas is especially hard to pin down in the Gospels, for she is referred to by a variety of titles:

• Mary, the Mother of James and Joseph;
• The Other Mary;
• Mary, the Mother of the Younger James and of Joses;
• Mary, the Mother of Joses;
• Mary, the Mother of James;
• Mary, the Wife of Clopas.

It is through John’s labeling, “Mary, the wife of Clopas” (19:25), that she has received her name: St. Mary of Clopas. Although she doesn’t stand out like Mary Magdalene, one variation or another of her titles appears at the death, burial, and empty tomb scenes repeatedly. Matthew’s Gospel asserts that both Mary Magdalene and Mary of Clopas saw and heard Jesus that first Easter morning.

Some propose that Mary of Clopas’ husband was the Cleopas who traveled to Emmaus with a friend and met up with Jesus in Luke’s 24th chapter. Many even suggest that it was St. Mary of Clopas who was the unidentified traveling partner. This is not known for sure, but it is an intriguing thought to consider.

St. Mary of Clopas shares a memorial day with St. Salome: April 24.

The Unnamed Other Galilean Women

Although we don’t know their names, it is only fair to also remember the unnamed women of Galilee—many others, according to St. Luke. Perhaps these nameless women were shy or had other responsibilities that took them away from Jesus and the apostles from time to time.

Whatever the reason, the Gospels give plenty of assertions that there were others. And they deserve our notice—especially if we have ever experienced being overlooked or not named. When we get to heaven, we can meet these women, learn their names, and thank them for their rich contributions to the mission of Jesus, for bringing comfort to his crucifixion and love to his burial.

Honoring the Holy Galilean Women

Even though the Gospel writers vary somewhat in their placement of the holy Galilean women, we can still get the general idea. They were there, they were helpful, they were devout, they were fearless (braver than most of the apostles at the Crucifixion!), and they loved Jesus dearly and showed it. And at least Mary Magdalene and Mary of Clopas were highly blessed by being the first to see Jesus resurrected. Though not specifically mentioned, it seems highly probable that at least some of the holy Galilean women were present during the nine days in the upper room in Jerusalem, praying and awaiting the Holy Spirit.

The holy Galilean women were generous in many ways and great adorers of God; their good works are an example to all Christians. They fully and very bravely lived out Christ’s command to deny oneself and follow him.

Restoring St. Mary Magdalene’s Reputation

Hopefully St. Mary Magdalene’s mistaken reputation as a prostitute will continue to steadily diminish. It seems reasonable to offset this unfortunate label by putting a special emphasis on a far better one—a label given to St. Mary Magdalene by St. Thomas Aquinas: “The Apostle to the Apostles.”

This 13th-century Italian doctor of the Church wrote a commentary on the Gospel of St. John, a Gospel that offers particularly poignant highlights on Mary Magdalene’s role on that first Easter morning. John’s 20th chapter presents Mary Magdalene arriving at the empty tomb alone. His unique and rich portrayal of this special woman asserts that she tearfully glanced toward the empty tomb, was visited by two angels, mistook Jesus for a gardener, and then was overcome with emotion as she recognized her Lord. Then, Mary Magdalene—without hesitation—followed Jesus’ charge to share the news of his resurrection: “Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord'” (Jn 20:18a), and shared what he told her.

It was Mary Magdalene carrying out Jesus’ wish to announce his resurrection with eager confidence that prompted St. Thomas Aquinas to call Mary Magdalene the Apostle to the Apostles within his commentary.

It is compelling to note that St. Thomas Aquinas also pointed out Matthew’s inclusion of another holy Galilean woman—”the other Mary” (St. Mary of Clopas)—during the first appearance of Jesus. Certainly, her role was profound as well, and more elaboration on her story would be welcome. However, St. Thomas Aquinas couldn’t help but notice Mary Magdalene’s overall prominence, especially in John’s Gospel, and felt inspired to highlight her apostle-like role.

Evidently, Pope Francis has read this commentary of St. Thomas Aquinas and agrees. In June 2016, the pope expressed a great appreciation for this title bestowed upon St. Mary Magdalene and felt it was time to elevate her day of remembrance (July 22) from a memorial to a feast. (The rank of Church celebrations are: optional memorial, obligatory memorial, feast, and solemnity.)

This seems a perfect counteraction: to start referring to St. Mary Magdalene as the Apostle to the Apostles in order to help restore her due reputation and highlight her holiness; to focus on her great love and devotion to Christ; and to recognize her rich contribution of proclaiming Christ’s triumph over the cross.

Sidebar: A Retreat with the Holy Galilean Women

Perhaps you would like a two-week, at-home retreat with these special women. If so, take some time each day for 14 days to read a biblical passage on them. Take in one or two surrounding verses and read the footnotes, if desired, and ponder their impact. Try to imagine yourself at the various scenes; maybe jot down your thoughts in a journal. Note which of these women each Gospel writer chose to highlight for the death, burial, and Resurrection accounts.

By melding these varying extracts together, see if you have a renewed picture in your mind of Jesus’ passion. During your two-week retreat, be sure to ask these holy women to pray for your special intentions.

Day 1) Luke 8:1‚ 3

Day 2) Matthew 20:20‚ 28

Day 3) Matthew 27:50‚ 56

Day 4) Mark 15:37, 41

Day 5) Luke 23:46, 49

Day 6) John 19:25

Day 7) Matthew 27:59‚ 61

Day 8) Mark 15:46‚ 47

Day 9) Luke 23:53‚ 56

Day 10) Matthew 28:1‚ 10

Day 11) Mark 16:1‚ 11

Day 12) Luke 24:1‚ 12

Day 13) John 20:1‚ 18

Day 14) Acts 1:14

These singles are awake and open to God, leading lives filled with faith, strong relationships, and community engagement.

While Vivian Sutch was growing up, she always thought she’d get married. But when she was in her mid-twenties, an engagement didn’t work out and, after that, her job as a high school Spanish teacher took priority over finding a husband.

Sutch continued to wonder about her vocation until one day, about 20 years ago, she read about how as a carpenter, Christ sanded the yokes he made for oxen so they would fit well. At that moment, she considered that the single life might be her personal yoke because it didn’t chafe her.

“From then on I’ve not looked at getting married,” says the active 71-year-old who lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. “It’s just not been anything that I’ve continued to search after. I’m very content.”

Some single Catholics have heard a call to live their entire lives as singles, but others see the life as transitional, as they discern marriage, priesthood, or religious life. Still others find that the right opportunity to enter a vocation hasn’t come after years of waiting.

Whether or not they intend to be single, singles interviewed for this article have found unique ways to love, serve, enjoy friendship and community, and meet God in the Church and in prayer. They sometimes experience loneliness and isolation, but also joy and consolation.

Following God’s Guidance

In 2016, about 110 million Americans were unmarried: 64 percent had never married, 23 percent were divorced, and 13 percent were widowed, according to US census data. More than 30 million US Catholics—or 43 percent—are unmarried, divorced, or widowed, a figure that has continued to increase since the 1960s, according to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Factors in the trend include delaying marriage for educational and career reasons, the individualistic culture, and higher rates of divorce.

Singles are a diverse group, and at one time or another everyone goes through a period of living as a single, says Father Ben Hasse, vocations director for the Diocese of Marquette, Michigan. “Nobody’s born into a particular state in life,” he says. “Lots of people find themselves single and come to a deep sense of peace in prayer that God’s at work in their lives, maybe even if they didn’t intend to be single.”

For most, the single life is not a permanent, lifelong state as are the vocations of marriage, religious life, and priesthood. But all singles share the basic—and most important—Christian vocation to holiness, one that is definite though not easy to live, he says.

“We really believe God’s calling in every level of our lives,” Father Hasse says. “We believe in those daily encounters with people the Lord moves, and we listen. That call will take shape in your life in a way that’s as unique as you are.”

Peter Braam, a 48-year-old who lives in Denver, doesn’t think his single life constitutes a vocation, but he agrees that God always has a purpose for each person. “It shouldn’t be seen as a denigrating reality that people happen to be single,” he explains. “The only thing that matters in life is to be a saint.”

Braam continues to discern God’s call and mission for his life. After founding a young adult ministry that flourished in the early 2000s and nearly proposing marriage to a woman, he ultimately left both for different reasons. “Day to day, moment to moment, I ask what he wants me to do,” he says.

Angela Neumann, 31, of West St. Paul, Minnesota, sought God’s will for her life during the eight years she seriously considered a religious vocation and still does as she’s discerned a call to marriage. After college, she served as a bridesmaid at many friends’ weddings, but now feels somewhat orphaned from that friend group as the only single. “You grow up and there is a life template of, ‘You go to school, and then you get married and have kids,'” she says. “There’s no template of what [to] do when that doesn’t happen.”

Neumann feels a tension between remaining open to God’s will and trusting that if he wants her to meet a future spouse, she will. And at times, she has a temptation to question, What’s wrong with me that I’m still single? She thinks singles could use more formation on how to approach dating and life. “More and more people are either not getting married or they’re getting married later in life,” she says, “so some formation about how do I live out holiness in this state is really necessary.”

As he seeks to grow in holiness and prepares to be a good spouse, Tom Ryan, 41, of Stillwater, Minnesota, is trying to break bad habits he hasn’t had to work on while living alone. Ryan also is learning about spiritual fatherhood by prayerfully “adopting” unborn babies who may be in danger of abortion.

“I believe if I’m to enter the marriage vocation, it will unfold in God’s time when I can get my pieces together, my act together,” Ryan says. “God’s not going to give us things we’re not prepared for. I do believe I’m not where I’m supposed to be. I’m getting there, but I’m still on that pilgrimage to get there.”

Loving and Serving Others

Whether they feel their single life is transitional or permanent, being single shouldn’t be a label, Sutch says. “We’ve become too compartmentalized with so many things. Whatever company you’re in, you’re not looking at their marital status.”

Mary Pavek, a slender woman of 60 who lives in Boise, Idaho, desires to be married, and if that happens, she says she will continue to find peace, hope, and love in the Lord’s call each day as she has in her life as a single. “I’m not going to identify as a single person or a married person,” she says. “I am to love where the Lord has me, to love the people that come into my life every day in a daily pattern.”

In a 1997 address, Pope John Paul II recognized singles who had been unable to marry or enter a priestly or religious vocation. “If their celibacy was not chosen, this can make them feel that their life is partly a failure,” he said. “May they not lose heart, for Christ never abandons those who trust in him! They can dedicate themselves to others and to developing fulfilling fraternal relations. They are examples for many. They have their full place in the ecclesial community. In every state, a life of giving is a source of joy.”

Singles such as Pavek have freedom to give of themselves and accept opportunities that other Catholics can’t because they’re not single. Three years ago, Pavek moved back to Idaho from Minnesota to care for her parents who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. Her siblings live closer but have their own families and couldn’t oversee their parents’ care as Pavek could by moving in with them. The move also has given Pavek, who suffers from Lyme disease, flexibility to rest when necessary because she’s not working at a full-time job. More recently, she’s managed her parents’ transition to a care center.

“Now I think my role is more hidden, serving my parents and my family,” she says.

Along with finding special ways to serve, singles sometimes can take advantage of other opportunities. Neumann is considering studying for a doctorate in Austria next year, something she thinks would be difficult if she were married with a family. “I’m radically available, so how do I use that for good versus the negatives of just thinking, I’m still not married, still don’t have a family?” she asks herself.

In 2005, Sutch offered her availability to assist with administrative work at a Catholic community in Costa Rica during a senior gap year. “It opened up new avenues of skills that I didn’t realize that I had, and it actually sharpened a lot of the skills and developed new skills in translating,” she says.

Finding Community

Singles have freedom, but they do well when they’re able to find communities of friendship and leave the poverty of isolation, Braam says. He relied on his community of friends when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2008 and felt that God had taken him into the desert.

“I think we always look for some sense of being on the right path or on the rails,” he says. “Cancer derailed everything that I thought I was supposed to do. I really had to accept this was the new reality that God had for me, fighting a deadly illness. And also, I had to accept that my life might end.”

During his four years of desolation with the disease, Braam’s friends and family responded in many ways, including gathering regularly to pray for him, helping with therapy, organizing fund-raising to pay his medical bills, and making meals. Now in full remission from the cancer, Braam continues to find fellowship and support for his faith in the Neocatechumenal Way, a charism within the Church dedicated to formation in Christian life based principally on catechesis and liturgy, which is lived in communities of believers.

As a single woman living far from her biological family, Sutch says she finds a sense of family and community in different circles of friends: the Catholics she meets for coffee after daily Mass, the Catholic covenant community she’s belonged to for 34 years, and her fellow retired teachers, whom she sees regularly.

Through relationships, Sutch and other singles say that God has provided assistance with her car, home advice, and other needs of life that a spouse might normally handle. “God has always provided men in my life for advice,” she says.

Singles also feel they belong in the Church, even if their needs don’t come up in the Mass intentions. “I feel that we are part of the Church and we don’t have to be married to be part of the Church,” Sutch says.

When Catholic singles gather to share interests other than their singleness, Neumann says she feels less awkward. She has found friends and community through playing softball and socializing with a network of other Catholic young adults.

Ryan has become more involved in his parish community and other faith organizations since he experienced a faith conversion at a Divine Mercy Sunday prayer service several years ago. He’s continued to grow in his faith and make Catholic friends, and has served in different ways, including organizing events and helping to lead rosaries for inmates at a nearby prison.

While involvement in his faith fills some need for fellowship, Ryan admits that occasionally he gets lonely or upset about being single. “I will see married couples, and they seem so happy and I will start to get jealous, but it quickly fades away,” he says.

Never Alone

Singles may find themselves seeking companionship, but Pavek says she knows that, during those times, God is with her. “I’m not on this journey alone,” she says. “Even though I’m alone physically, often I’m not spiritually or emotionally. I’m pretty grateful.”

The added solitude many singles have can be an opportunity to pray and seek God, Father Hasse says. “The entire rich spiritual tradition is open to every person, ” he says. “To the extent that people may have space in their life because of being single, one very hopeful, beautiful, fruitful thing they could do with some of that space would be to devote it to pursuing the spiritual life.”

Braam takes time with the Lord as he continues to discern God’s will for his life, often with a prayer written by St. Ignatius: “The deep yearning in my heart is to walk on his path and not my own.”

Singles may be waiting on the Lord for direction on their state in life, but they shouldn’t forget that God has adventures and graces for them where they are. It’s a misperception of the single life for singles to think they’ve missed out on something, Sutch says.

Singles—and especially those who didn’t plan to be single—can pursue deep friendship and intimacy with the Lord while seeking to serve and give of themselves, Father Hasse says.

Braam agrees: “The challenge of being single is not to lament singleness so much that we don’t turn ourselves outward and give ourselves to something,” he says. “It’s really important to see these years not as wasted years and ask the Lord what he is calling us to—not is he calling me, but what is he calling me to?”

Fred Rogers changed the world with his message of love and respect for our neighbor. The Fred Rogers Center in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, continues to spread that message.

Perhaps no one other than Jesus Christ is more noted for speaking about love of neighbor than Fred Rogers. Better known as Mister Rogers and as the creator of the children’s television program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Fred Rogers welcomed people into his neighborhood for over 30 years. He died on February 27, 2003, but his legacy of neighborliness and caring for children lives on through the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media.

Located in his hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, the center lies 40 miles east of Pittsburgh, on the campus of Saint Vincent College, a Catholic Benedictine liberal arts institution. Although Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister, he shared a lifelong friendship with Douglas Nowicki, an archabbot of Saint Vincent, and felt that Latrobe was his “first neighborhood.” Before his death, Rogers made plans to establish his legacy at the college.

“Fred had talked to the archabbot back in the 1990s about establishing a center here. He was going to teach and live at the center, but he died in 2003,” says Dana Winters, PhD, director of simple interactions and academic programs at the center. “We knew he wanted to continue to help children.”

Developing Healthy Children

Ground was broken in 2006 for the two-level facility that overlooks the rolling farmlands and Chestnut Ridge of the Allegheny Mountains. The center opened in 2008 with the mission to help children grow on the inside, learn through relationships, and give meaning to technology through three initiatives at the center: academic, digital media and learning, and archiveology.

Rogers believed that human relationships are crucial to a child’s development. “Academically, through Saint Vincent College, we offer a minor in children’s studies that is inspired by the works of Fred Rogers and which is available to students in all schools in the college,” says Dr. Winters.

The center also houses a research lab called Incubator 143. “It was named for Fred’s favorite number and symbolizes the phrase I love you. The number 1 represents the word I, and 4 stands in for love, and 3 symbolizes you,” Dr. Winters says. The incubator is an undergraduate research and development group focused on creating positive change for children’s development by supporting the work of childcare centers, urban schools, nonprofit community programs, and overseas orphanages.

In addition, the center is home to the Fred Rogers Scholars Program. “Each year, five freshmen students are selected as Fred Rogers Scholars and receive a $2,500 merit-based scholarship per year. The scholarship is awarded to students pursuing careers or interested in doing graduate work that helps young children grow and become confident, competent, and caring human beings in keeping with the mission of the Fred Rogers Center,” says Dr. Winters.

Students in their first year learn about Rogers himself—his work, his philosophy, and the archives. In year two of the program, students commit to a service-learning project. In year three, students define a culminating project that will be finished and presented in their fourth year.

“Honestly, besides my faith, my family, and my friends, Fred Rogers has had the greatest impact on the person I am today,” says Sydney Schoff, 21, a senior Fred Rogers Scholar majoring in communications. “It is extremely difficult for me to even put into words how important Fred was and is to me. He had this incredible ability to meet people where they are. He never saw people as ‘someone that will be great one day.’ Fred’s ‘one day’ was every day.”

“Fred Rogers’ work and legacy have impacted the way I view the world and those around me. He approached every interaction with unparalleled intimacy that I now attempt to implement in my daily life,” says Kyle Ward, 21, a senior psychological science major and Fred Rogers Scholar.

A Friend to God’s People

The second initiative of the center is digital media and learning. In 2012, the Fred Rogers Center joined with the National Association for the Education of Young Children to release a position statement, “Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8,” which provided research-based guidance to early childhood programs and educators on the effective use of media and technology.

“We believe children grow best through relationships with others, but we also know that technology can also promote that growth,” says Dr. Winters. “The digital media and learning program poses this question: It’s fine to use technology, but are you using it for good?”

The last initiative is the Fred Rogers Archive, which is housed at the center and contains more than 16,000 items. Among them are handwritten texts, scripts, and production books from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, his iconic sweaters and tennis shoes, the Neighborhood’s Make-Believe Trolley, and beloved puppets such as King Friday and X the Owl.

The center also contains the Fred Rogers Exhibit, which is open to the public and enjoyable for both adults and children. The multimedia, interactive display traces Rogers’ life and career. It documents his childhood in Latrobe, his rise as an advocate for children, and his dream of building a legacy through the Fred Rogers Center. The exhibit features video clips, his sweaters, puppets, and some of the numerous honors and awards he received, which include a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

But perhaps the most enduring legacy of Fred Rogers and that which inspires everything at the center is his subtle spirituality. Like St. Francis of Assisi, Rogers radiated a simple spirituality that drew people in.

Henri J.M. Nouwen, the Dutch Catholic priest and theologian who was a good friend of Rogers, said this of everyone’s favorite neighbor in his book Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith: “Although we tend to think about saints as holy and pious, and picture them with halos above their heads and ecstatic gazes, true saints are much more accessible. They are men and women like us, who live ordinary lives and struggle with ordinary problems. What makes them saints is their clear and unwavering focus on God and God’s people.”

Birth of a Legacy

Rogers’ gift for being able to focus on God and God’s people began in childhood. He was born on March 20, 1928, to James and Nancy McFeely Rogers. His father, a prominent industrialist, owned the Latrobe Die Casting Company. Rogers was an only child for 11 years until his sister, Nancy Elaine, was born. His was a Father Knows Best kind of life. His mother volunteered at the local hospital and knit her son a sweater for Christmas each year. Until she died, those were the sweaters he wore on the show. His family members were faithful Presbyterians. During a 1999 interview with the Archive of American Television, when asked if he had a religious life, Rogers replied, “You bet we did, and what continues within me is the knowledge that each one of us can be used in perfectly wonderful ways.”

However, it took a while before Rogers would discover the way God intended for him to be used. He was an overweight, shy, lonely child who suffered with asthma and endured bullying. It was his maternal grandfather, Fred McFeely, who set the young Fred on the road to his destiny.

Rogers said this of a memory he had of his Grandfather McFeely: “I think it was when I was leaving one time to go home after our time together that my grandfather said to me, ‘You know, you made this day a really special day. Just by being yourself. There’s only one person in the world like you. And I happen to like you just the way you are.’ Well, talk about good stuff. That just went right into my heart. And it never budged. And I’ve been able to pass that on. And that’s a wonderful legacy.”

As he grew older, Rogers became more self-confident. After spending a year at Dartmouth College, he transferred to Rollins College in Florida, where he could hone his musical talents. In addition to a gift for music, he also felt called to ministry, and was accepted by the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. While at Rollins College, he met his wife, Joanne, and earned a degree in music composition.

In 1951, during his senior year, he saw a television program for children that featured people throwing pies at each other. He found it demeaning for the children and decided he wanted to be involved with television.

Rogers married Joanne in 1952, and after working in New York City as an assistant producer for several NBC shows, he learned of a new educational broadcasting station launching in Pittsburgh. He returned home to help found WQED, the first community-owned public station in the country. There, he and Josie Carey volunteered to develop a program for children, and The Children’s Corner was born. The show became a hit and won a Sylvania Award for best locally produced children’s show in the country in 1955.

During this time, Rogers was also attending the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. While taking a course in counseling, he decided that he wanted to serve children and worked with Dr. Margaret McFarland, the director of the Arsenal Family and Children’s Center, founded by the renowned pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock. Rogers spent hours observing children at play and interacting with them, using puppets he brought to the center.

Rogers graduated from the seminary in 1963 with a charge to minister to children and their families through television programming. The only problem was there was no money to support a television program.

Later that year, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation invited Rogers to Toronto to create a children’s program. The 15-minute program required that he host the show and talk directly to children, something he hadn’t done before. By 1965, Rogers and his wife had two young sons and had decided to move back to Pittsburgh to be close to family and friends. He was also planning a new show called Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

The Quiet Radical

After several years of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood running in limited broadcasting areas, the Sears-Roebuck Foundation offered to underwrite the show. On February 19, 1968, the first national broadcast of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood aired.

One of the most tumultuous times in American history, 1968 gave us the assassinations of both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert Kennedy, riots at the Democratic National Convention, and violent anti-war protests. It also gave us Mister Rogers, a kind, gentle man in a sweater and tennis shoes. With all the shouting, it’s a wonder the nation heard this soft-spoken man over the racket. But hear him it did. Children across the country tuned in to hear Mister Rogers’ words of unconditional love and acceptance.

“Mr. Rogers was quite radical for his time, but in a quiet way,” Dr. Winters says. “On his show, he talked about what assassination meant. He discussed divorce and adoption, which was not done on television at that time.”

Rogers’ credo was, “If it is mentionable, it’s manageable,” and he encouraged children and their families to communicate their fears and feelings.

Although he was satirized on Saturday Night Live, Rogers was genuine. “The most surprising thing that I have discovered in studying Fred Rogers and his work is that the person who is portrayed on the screen was the real Fred Rogers. The talented, considerate, and genuinely kind individual who Fred Rogers was on television was the person he was in real life,” says Sarah O’Callaghan, 20, a junior early childhood education major and Fred Rogers Scholar.

“One of the most memorable things he did happened during the civil rights movement. In 1969, during a show, Mister Rogers invited the character Officer Clemmons, who was black, to rest his feet in a pool of water with him. Afterward, Mister Rogers wiped the feet of his neighbor,” says Dr. Winters.

The religious symbolism of this action may have gone unnoticed by the children viewing the show, but the love behind his deed did not. It was his subtle preaching of love of neighbor through his words and actions that endeared him to generations of children. Like St. Francis, who also carried a message of love and dignity to the world, Rogers’ gentleness and love affected people deeply.

He had an unusual ability to reach in and connect with the inner child in those he met. His philosophy was, “Deep and simple is far more essential than shallow and complex.” Through his simple songs such as “I Like You as You Are,” “You Are Special,” and “It’s You I Like,” he reached deeply into our hearts and touched them, and he also taught us how to love one another.

“Not only is Fred Rogers teaching me how to help others, but he’s teaching me how to be a good human. And I know that will help me as I settle into a career in the future,” says Lilly McCormick, 19, a sophomore communications major and Fred Rogers Scholar.

“Fred Rogers respected children. He never talked down to them, and he respected their feelings. He assured them of their self-worth and told them it was OK to have emotions,” says Dr. Winters. “And Fred Rogers regarded the space between the television and a child as holy ground.”

Mister Rogers On…

HELPERS
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'”

HEROES
“Anyone who does anything to help a child in his life is a hero to me.”

TIME
“You rarely have time for everything you want in this life, so you need to make choices. And hopefully your choices can come from a deep sense of who you are.”

IMPRESSIONS
“If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.”

HONESTY
“The greatest gift you ever give is your honest self.”

SUCCESS
“There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind.”

FORGIVENESS
“Forgiveness is a strange thing. It can sometimes be easier to forgive our enemies than our friends. It can be hardest of all to forgive people we love. Like all of life’s important coping skills, the ability to forgive and the capacity to let go of resentments most likely take root very early in our lives.”

HEAVEN
“The kingdom of God is for the brokenhearted.”

Grandparents Ethan (Dennis Quaid) and Hannah (Marg Helgenberger) live on a farm in Michigan. Their dog, Bailey (voice of Josh Gad), loves to play with Ethan and keep an eye on their granddaughter, CJ (played at different stages by Abby Ryder Fortson and Kathryn Prescott). Their son has died, so his widow, Gloria (Betty Gilpin), and CJ live with them. Gloria accuses Ethan and Hannah of wanting control of their son’s insurance money when they offer to let CJ live with them so that Gloria can develop her singing pursuits. In a huff, she takes CJ and leaves. Bailey, the narrator of our story, is sad because CJ is gone.

Gloria and her daughter move to Chicago, where CJ becomes interested in music. Gloria starts drinking and dating. CJ adopts a puppy and names her Molly, hiding her from Gloria. Molly takes over Bailey’s job as CJ’s guardian angel because Molly is Bailey born again as a female dog of a different breed.

After getting arrested at a party where underage drinking and drug use are going on, CJ has to complete 100 hours of community service. She is assigned to an organization where service dogs are trained to detect cancer. Molly copies the other dogs and learns how to detect cancer as well. One evening, CJ and Molly go for a drive with CJ’s ex-boyfriend, Shane (Jake Manley), and they get into a car accident. Molly dies as a result, and CJ moves to New York. On the way, CJ stops at a gas station in Pennsylvania, and a large dog named Big Dog chases her car down the road. The dog instantly recognizes her.

CJ struggles in the big city but eventually finds a boyfriend and moves in with him. When CJ walks through a pet adoption fair in Washington Park, a small dog, Max, recognizes her and manages to escape and get adopted by her. One day, Gloria comes to visit, and CJ’s life begins to change.

A Dog’s Journey is based on the 2012 novel of the same title by W. Bruce Cameron. It is the sequel to the 2017 film A Dog’s Purpose, but the new film stands on its own. Gad reprises his role as the canine narrator, and Quaid is back as Ethan, now an aging grandfather. Rather than being seen as reincarnated, I prefer to see these lovable dogs as God recycling CJ’s guardian angel, loving her and keeping her safe.

A-2, PG, Alcohol, drugs, some peril.

Tolkien

The film opens at the Battle of the Somme in World War I. A young officer, J.R.R. Tolkien (Nicholas Hoult), known as Ronald to his friends, is sick with trench fever and worried about his childhood friend, Geoffrey (Anthony Boyle), who has gone missing. Ronald absorbs the terror and destruction around him until he is sent back to England to finish his service.

The film then goes back to when a younger Ronald (Harry Gilby) and his brother, Hilary (Guillermo Bedward), play in the woods outside of Birmingham. The boys’ mother, Mabel (Laura Donnelly), is a born storyteller, and Ronald’s imagination develops so much that he begins to create his own language and draws amazing sketches in his notebooks. Their father dies in South Africa, never making it back home to his family. Mabel dies as well, placing the boys under the guardianship of a Catholic priest, Father Francis (Colm Meaney), who obtains a scholarship for Ronald to attend a prestigious school. There, Ronald astonishes everyone when he recites, from memory, the epic poem Beowulf in Old English. He makes friends slowly, but they remain friends for life and form a secret society called the T.C.B.S.—the Tea Club, Barrovian Society.

While at university, Ronald meets Dr. Joseph Wright (Derek Jacobi), a noted professor of philology, and finds a way to become his student so he can learn more about languages, history, textual analysis, myth, and literary criticism. And then the war comes.

Tolkien is a romantic introduction to the young man who would become the author of the greatest fantasy novels of the 20th century—The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, events in Tolkien’s life are compressed and reordered, and the influence of Catholicism on his inner life is almost nonexistent.

A-2, PG-13, War violence.

Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché

In 1895, Alice Guy-Blaché was a secretary at a camera manufacturing company outside Paris. She was invited to see the first projected film by the Lumière brothers, along with other executives from the Gaumont Company. Then and there she decided that she could make movies that actually told stories. She made her first film in 1896, The Cabbage Fairy. In 1906, she made The Life of Christ, one of the first big-budget films ever made. Over the next two decades she wrote, produced, and directed over 1,000 films. Then she faded away, written out of history by a male-dominated industry.

Filmmaker Pamela B. Green began working on the film in 2012 with Robert Redford and Jodie Foster among the executive producers. (Foster also narrates the film.) Green’s goal was to make sure that film students and filmmakers alike would have an appreciation for Guy-Blaché’s work and innovations still in use today—such as the close-up shot. The first part of the documentary is an exercise in keeping up. The latter part of the film slows down and tells more about Guy-Blaché’s family and her life in America.

Be Natural is an essential film to appreciate cinema and the role that women played in its development—as well as the possibilities for female directors today and tomorrow.

Not yet rated, Sexism.

“Unless the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain who build.
Unless the Lord guard the city,
in vain does the guard keep watch.
It is vain for you to rise early
and put off your rest at night,
To eat bread earned by hard toil—
all this God gives to his beloved in sleep.”
(Psalm 127)

How many of us do the things we do in vain! Like the example in Jesus’ New Testament story of one who might build only part of a tower, for lack of planning (Luke 15:28), we go through our relationships at work and at home, taking on any number of responsibilities, forgetting our true purpose and winding up, at the end of the day, a little short.

Psalm 127 reminds us to reflect on the type of work we do and why. This prayer—indeed, we sing it in our liturgy—we return to constantly, praying for right reasons for our actions. That we’ve prayed it for centuries is a big clue that we need to pray it today.

A lot of understanding is wrapped up in these few words. In the Christian tradition, we have seen it expressed as the great debate on the nature of grace, the debate between faith and works. St. Paul and the Apostle James struggled with it (see Romans 1:17, Ephesians 2:4-10, Galatians 5:6 and James 2:17). Augustine struggled with it in the fourth century and it was of major contention in the 16th century, during the Reformation.

Catholics, Lutherans, and others now say together that God’s grace is the beginning of everything, but that we people are called to respond to God’s invitation by doing the works of God. So yes, the Lord builds the house but, as the psalmist recognizes, there is a human laborer involved, as well. That would be you or me.

Families First

So what is our labor? What house are we building? The most important work for any of us would be developing the relationships in which we grow through the years. In our families, in our relationships with friends and neighbors, here we see the work fields of the Lord. Here we are called, simply yet profoundly, to love one another.

If any of us is more concerned about what we can gain from—rather than what we can give to—another, we are building in vain. We are called to keep our priorities set on love.

Those who are married and raising children are called to put the well-being of their spouse and children in front of other needs and wants. It is the Lord who will build the house that lasts. If we want our families to be healthy, if we want to keep a family together when so many forces want to pull us apart, we must find ways to be sure we include the Lord in our family: Pray together, at home and at church. Break bread together. Spend time together.

Psalm 127 sounds very much like proverbial wisdom reflections on everyday life. Ordinary things—house, city/community, work and family—involve our efforts but all are ultimately gifts of God. Trust in the providence of God is decisive. The Lord’s presence and care are with us in the everyday.

Understanding Psalm 127

Psalm 127, attributed to King Solomon, reflects on the theme of divine providence and the necessity of God’s guidance in all aspects of life. It begins with the assertion that unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers work in vain. This imagery extends beyond physical construction to encompass all human endeavors, emphasizing the importance of trusting in God’s sovereignty and seeking His blessings for success. The psalmist compares children to arrows in the hands of a warrior, highlighting their importance as blessings from God and emphasizing the responsibility of parents to raise them in a godly manner.

Ultimately, Psalm 127 conveys the message that true security and prosperity come from acknowledging and relying on God’s provision in every aspect of life.

Next month: Psalm 47