By HILLARY BORRUDStaff Writer

VICTORVILLE — Priests and parishioners have come and gone from the small church of St. Joan of Arc in Old Town.

The church was founded in 1922, but the faithful have not forsaken the first Roman Catho-lic Church in Victor Valley, de-spite the numerous other par-ishes that have sprung up.

People fill to the back of the church and overflow out the door at 9 a.m. Spanish Mass-es on Sunday, said Felix Diaz, a member for the church for about 70 years who sits on the parish council and is a Victor Valley Union High School Dis-trict board member.

It is a far cry from 1936, when

the Diaz family moved to the Victorville barrio across the tracks from the church, and on-ly five to 10 families in the par-ish were Hispanic, he said.

There were about 150 people in the parish, and Diaz’ grandfa-ther used to walk 10 miles from Hesperia for Sunday Mass. For-tunately, he was able to catch a ride back with Diaz’ father or an uncle.

“It seems like every time you have a change in the priest, people to go other churches,” said Theresa Anthony, whose husband John was an alter boy with Diaz.

Church receptionist Elaine Watson, who came to the church for the first time in the early 1960s, said she has seen the ad-ministration go from all work

being done by hand to all on computers.

One priest stood out for Wat-son and Diaz: The Rev. William VanGarsee, later elevated to monsignor, who was native of Belgium and served in the Ar-my Air Corps during World War II. VanGarsee was strict and did not put up with nonsense, Diaz said.

It was because of him that the Mother’s Chapel was construct-ed to separate noisy young chil-dren from the rest of the con-gregation.

VanGarsee also helped estab-lish St. Mary Medical Center and St. Mary’s Regional Catho-lic School in Apple Valley.

Hillary Borrud may be reached at 951-6234 or hborrud@vvdailypress.com.

PAGE B3SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2007

ReligionPage edited by Justin D. Beckett

Ask the clergyMcClatchy Newspapers

The ram and the shaggy goat

t h o u g h t o f t h e w e e k“Your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle, quiet spirit, is of great worth in God’s eyes.” — 1 Peter 3:4, King James Bible

Religious PerspectivesBy BIAGIO CIRROCCHI

The spirit of

Old Town

Members at St. Joan of Arc maintain early 20th century traditions

Why aren’t there

miracles like in Bible

times?The Rev. Brenda J. Hayes, pastor, First A.M.E. Church, Kansas City, Kan.:

Why aren’t there mira-cles today as record-ed in Bible times?

Many would take issue with the idea that there are not miracles done today as there were when people of ancient times lived.

There are many reports of miraculous healings and deliver-ance from crippling conditions. But if it is true that not many miracles are done now, especial-ly here in the United States, it’s because the conditions that have warranted them are not present. This is still a predominantly Ju-deo-Christian nation.

The very reason miracles were performed was to provide a sign to unbelieving people that God is the one and only omnipotent God, and that those associated with God possessed similar power to control natural circumstances, in opposition to the worship of idol gods. Miracles don’t happen so that people will believe in miracles. They happen so that people will believe in God.

The only other reason mir-acles happen is to protect and nurture those who do believe in God. Faith and trust in God affords us the special blessing of miracles happening from time to time. The forces of evil are against God’s people, and some-times it is the miracle of being kept that saves us.

Many miracles go unreport-ed. Perhaps the very mystery of miracles forbids our speaking about them. Sometimes they are so subtle that no one but the ones who experience them would believe anyway.

———Rabbi Mark H. Levin of Congregation Beth Torah, Overland Park, Kan.:

Some people say that God has changed God’s ways and no longer in-

tervenes, as at the burning bush or the parting of the Sea of Reeds.

Others would say that God never performed such miracles, and they are only fabricated stories, misperceptions of reality or exaggerations of actual events. In other words, the story’s core may be true, but the supernatural aspects were added after the fact for effect.

In the biblical world, natu-ral law included God’s work-ing in history. God made the Assyrians instruments of God’s wrath and destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel, just as God created a donkey that spoke only once and gave him to the prophet Balaam. In Jewish tradition these are one-time natural events, like stopping the sun over the Val-ley of Ayalon so that Joshua could win a battle.

The question of miracles may be one of perception. Theologian Lawrence Kushner says that the miracle of the burning bush was not that the bush was burning, but that Moses took the time to turn aside and see and thus received God’s revelation.

Kids for Christ meets every Friday in Victorville

VICTORVILLE — The Kids for Christ Bible study club is from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. every Friday at Village Elementary School in Victorville.

Children memorize Bible verses to prepare for trials they might face as they grow into their teens, said Daniel Martinez, who leads the club. The club is open to non-stu-dents, too.

For more information, call Martinez at 224-3765 or 780-5569.

New Life Food Pantry hosts choir from Uganda

HESPERIA — The New Life Line Food Pantry, an outreach program of the New Life Chapel, will sponsor the Watoto Children’s Choir from Kampala, Uganda, be-ginning at 6 p.m. on March 11.

The New Life Chapel is lo-cated at 10184 Seventh St. in Hesperia.

Hesperia Full Gospel Ministries celebrate 20 years

HESPERIA — Hesperia Full

Gospel Ministries will be cel-ebrating its 20th anniversary beginning at 11 a.m. on April 15.

There will be a church service at 11 a.m. and a potluck dinner and celebration service at 5:30 p.m.

For more information, call 956-2626.

Grand sheik at top Muslim school agrees to meet pope

VATICAN CITY — The grand sheik at the highest theologi-cal college in the Sunni Muslim world has agreed to meet with Pope Benedict XVI in Rome, the

Vatican said.Cardinal Paul Poupard, who

leads the Vatican commission on relations with Muslims, went to Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo to meet with Mohamed Sayed Tan-tawi, grand sheik at the Al-Azhar Mosque, and extended the invita-tion. It “was accepted with satis-faction,” the Vatican said Tuesday.

Presbyterian leaders issue plea to stay unified

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The threat of churches departing from the Presbyterian Church

(U.S.A.) has become so serious that leaders have issued a letter asking them to stay.

The Presbyterian Church, like other mainline Protestant groups, has been struggling for years to rec-oncile members who disagree over how to interpret Scripture.

At least eight churches have left since a Presbyterian General As-sembly last summer, which voted to give leeway to install partnered gay clergy and allowed church officials to propose experimental phrasings for the divine Trinity in place of “Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”

— Compiled from staff and wire reports

I n B r I e f

Are we living in the time of the end? It certainly seems that way by current world events. But to prove our case we need more evidence, for this we turn to the book of Daniel Chapter 8 in the Bible. In verse 17 “the vision concerns the time of the end,” as stated by the Angel Gabriel to Dan-iel in his vision of the ram and the goat. In verse 20 Gabriel states, “that the two horns that you saw represent the kings of Media and Persia and the Shaggy goat is the king of the west and the large horn between his eyes is the first king” (horns mean kings and strength in Bible studies).

As we continue with Daniel’s vi-sion of a ram and a goat beginning in

Chapter 8:3, “I looked up and there be-fore me was a ram with two horns. One of the horns was larger than the oth-er, but grew up later.” In verses 5 to 7, Daniel states, “As I watched the ram as he charged toward the west, the north and the south, no animal could stand against him and none could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and be-came great. As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. I saw him attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering his two horns.”

Now if this is the time of the end, where is Media and Persia today?

They exist in the present kingdoms of Iraq and Iran. The shaggy goat that crossed the whole earth from the west without touching the ground is the United States with its sea and air pow-er, and which already has broken the first small horn. This cannot be dis-puted as we see in our straight line of history in the last few years. Soon the shaggy goat (U.S.) will break the larg-er horn which comes up later (Iran). Then the prominent horn between the eyes of the shaggy goat is next broken off at the height of its pow-er (Daniel 8:8) (and is not mentioned again in the bible), and in place of the shaggy goat four other kingdoms, or horns, will emerge, but not with the

same power, (Daniel 8:22). What might break the prominent horn (U.S.) of the shaggy goat, we can only specu-late. Can it be economic collapse? Af-ter all the United States depends upon its importation of oil. When we go to war against Iran and break its horn, we will lose 40 percent of our oil im-ports. Therefore we cannot function as before and payoff our huge debt of trillions of dollars to other coun-tries. What will happen to the people of the U.S., when they are not getting their daily income from the Federal Government, which is now collapsed? What about you? Now is the time to get prepared! Now that this crisis has begun, (31⁄2 years ago) today is the day

of salvation, (2Cor 6:2). “For it will come upon those who live on the face of this whole earth.” “Be always on the watch and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to hap-pen.” (Luke 21:35-36).

Remember as stated in the para-graph above four other kingdoms will emerge, but out of one of them a new horn enters the picture called the little horn which grows exceedingly great and tells the world to worship him. So get started on that relation-ship with Jesus and His Father who sent him. Read the bible everyday to get closer to your Savior.

Biagio Ciarrocchi may be reached at any time to discuss his writings at 955-6964

James Quigg Staff PhotographerSt. Joan of Arc Church in Victorville is an active part of Victorville’s Old Town community. The building is one of the area’s oldest churches as well.

Photos by James Quigg / Staff PhotographerSt. Joan of Arc’s parish hall was once the sanctuary when it was built in 1922. It is now used to serve thousands of hungry people a week as the home of the Lords Table lunch program. At top, a St. Joan of Arc church member arrives for morning services at the church.

Farrakhan’s last major speech could come Sunday, some say

By NIRAJ WARIKOODetroit Free Press

DETROIT — The Nation of Islam is coming home.

Born on the streets of Detroit during the Great Depression, the Muslim group returns to its roots this weekend, holding a conven-tion expected to attract as many as 65,000 people and featuring a speech by its ailing leader — the sometimes controversial Louis Farrakhan. Nation members say the Sunday talk at Ford Field could be his last major address.

Muslims from around the world are expected to attend the annual Saviours’ Day convention, includ-ing the Arab imam of the Al-Aqsa mosque, one of the holiest sites in the world for them. But the Na-tion has an influence that reaches beyond its membership, with a majority of participants expected to be non-Muslim blacks eager to hear Farrakhan’s words.

“It’s not simply a Muslim gath-ering,” said Minister Dawud Mu-hammad, who heads the Nation of Islam’s temple in Detroit. “It’s for anyone who has a concern about self-improvement being the basis for community development, about coming together to heal our fami-lies and healing our cities.”

The Nation of Islam and Far-rakhan, who is known in the group as the Honorable Minister, have been accused of anti-Semitism, a charge the Nation denies. But the group has converted thousands of Americans to Islam and has be-

come one of the strongest black nationalist groups in U.S. history.

The exact membership of the Nation is unclear. There may be up to 50,000 members nationwide, say Muslim leaders, with about 1,000 of them with the Nation’s Detroit mosque on Wyoming.

Its message of black national-ism and responsibility resonates particularly well in Detroit, a city that Farrakhan’s national assis-tant, Minister Ishmael Muham-mad, called “the Mecca for black America.”

Michael Anderson, 59, of De-troit isn’t a Nation member and isn’t a Muslim. But he will be at

the convention, along his three grandchildren.

Like many in Detroit, he said his life changed 12 years ago at the Million Man March in Washing-ton, D.C., with the Nation’s call for black men to take responsibility for improving themselves and their communities. Anderson said it helped him kick a drug addiction.

The Nation “has always had a moral influence on the black com-munity beyond its Islamic teach-ings,” Anderson said. “Their phi-losophy is to do for self, to solve some of your own problems.”

For weeks, billboards with Far-rakhan’s beaming face have dotted the highways around Detroit, and radio stations have offered free tick-ets and featured interviews with Nation leaders. It’s a bigger public-ity blitz than usual, given that the convention is often held in Chicago.

Many Christian preachers in Detroit, including Samuel Bull-ock, president of the Council of Baptist Pastors in Detroit, have been alerting their congregations about the convention at a time of economic uncertainty in south-eastern Michigan.

Farrakhan’s speech is expected to be the main draw, but there also are a number of workshops, with topics ranging from black-owned farms to family values to an inter-faith event at Cobo Hall on Friday evening.

City leaders hope the event will bring peace to communities

wracked by violence and despair.“I predict that if we can get

enough of the brothers off the street and into Ford stadium that you will see a different spirit in the city of Detroit,” said Council-woman Barba-ra-Rose Collins. “You will see a healing.”

Though they share a differ-ent faith, Christians often work with the Nation.

At Northwest Missionary Bap-tist Church in Detroit, the Rev. Os-car King III partners with Minister Muhammad to counsel inmates in-side Michigan prisons in an effort called the Cross and the Crescent.

King said he sometimes had problems finding fellow Christians to assist him with the program, but the Nation is always willing to help.

The Nation “appeals to the heart and soul of disenfranchised black men and women,” King said after a sermon last Sunday in which he urged worshippers to attend Sun-day’s Saviours’ Day speech by Far-rakhan. “They help us be better Christians.”

The headline of the church pro-gram read: “This May Be the Last Time,” a reference to the speech by Farrakhan, 73. In January, he left a hospital after a monthlong stay from abdominal surgery related to prostate cancer treatment.

PAGE B6 Daily Press, Victorville, Calif. RELIGION Saturday, February 24, 2007 Page edited by Justin D. Beckett

A listener once asked me to talk about the special challenges of mixing

friendship with authority. The issue often comes up when par-ents want to be their children’s best friends, teachers invite stu-dents to treat them as equals, or managers are overly chummy with the people they supervise.

Clearly, there are benefits to enriching these relationships with the affection, trust, and loyalty that come with friend-ship. A casual atmosphere where you can call your par-ent, teacher or boss “Bob” or “Debby” invites openness and is more pleasant than formal relationships where authority is continually emphasized by titles or other traditions that emphasize the power one per-son has over the other.

The problem is, sooner or later the expectations of friendship will conflict with the responsibilities of authority. Parents, teachers, and bosses can be friends only up to a point.

Friendships are voluntary. Friends are equals. And since the

bonds of friendship are essential-ly formed by affection, friends have to be concerned with being liked. People in authority, on the other hand, have a job to do. They have to set boundaries, give instructions and impose disci-pline, even if it engenders dislike or hostility.

Friends can accept each other without a need to change, im-prove, or judge, but people with authority have a duty to be more demanding. They have a respon-sibility to insist on character and competence.

Authority is much more compli-cated than friendship, and it takes character to be a good parent, teacher or boss.

Mixing friendship and power

Character Countsby Michael Josephson

By REv. DR. DONALD P. RICHMONDSpecial to the Daily Press

On 21 February we be-gan the season of Lent, initiated by the placing

of ashes upon the foreheads of penitent (repentant) wor-shippers. This imposition of ashes demonstrates at least two issues: our humanity and our sorrow over sin. Both ac-knowledgments are crucial to our living effectively in and as a community.

In the movie, Ladyhawk, a rather overweight and guilt- ridden monk asks a visitor if it is Lent again. The monk, thinking that it might be Lent, was quite distressed that he might have to give up a hearty meal. Many of us think about Lent as a time of having to give something up. And, to be sure, it is a time of letting go.

However, Lent is not so much about giving up as it is about clearing away the clutter of our lives. Yes, it does require some measure of “the sanctification of the relaxed grasp” (letting go), but it is also about focusing ourselves upon those issues in life that are most important. Using the words of Jesus, it is about at-taining a “single eye” and a clean heart. If our lives are cluttered with peripheral issues, how can we hope to see clearly and behave properly?

As I write this brief article, I have two beautifully wrapped pieces of Hershey’s Milk Choco-late sitting before me. They smell delicious. In fact, to be honest, my mouth is beginning to salivate thinking about eating them. It is likely, however, that I will not eat them. I am not a big fan of choco-late. For me to say no to chocolate is not too hard. Giving up my latte would be far more difficult. And, if I really want to cut close to the heart, it is likely that I should fast from (give up) something that ad-dresses the root of who I am and how I behave. It is likely that I should give up my cynicism, and cultivate an attitude of praise and thanksgiving.

The reason for this brief diver-sion, as illustrated above, is to highlight what we should let go of. There is certainly nothing wrong with giving up candy, coffee, or our favorite food, but do these really address the deeper issues we may need to confront? If we are going to really benefit from a Lenten fasting, we must cut closer to the heart of what actually ails us, namely our sins and short-comings. Giving up anything less is simply child’s play. We need to take time to clear up the real and deep clutter of our lives.

Take a moment to think about your life. Better yet, if you have an honest spouse, ask him or her about your primary shortcoming. Examine this issue, and seek to get at the root-motivation behind it. This is the kind of issue that would be profitable to examine and extricate from our lives. You may overeat (I am not talking about the DSM IV diagnosis), but what is your motivation behind overeating? Fast from both the overindulgence and the attitude that leads to this behavior. If you are prone to swear: do not just stop swearing, address the issue that motivates this behavior. If, like myself, you tend to be cyni-cal about life and people, do not simply stop being cynical (the ac-tion), but address the root reason of your cynicism (the attitude). Whatever our sin or shortcoming may be, address both the fruit (behavior) and the root (belief system).

Why all this emphasis upon self-examination and personal change? We live in community. We do not simply or only live for ourselves. More often than not, our sins and shortcomings disrupt the lives of other human beings. Personal sin has social impact.

As we enter Lent, this time of personal evaluation and painful change as we await our Easter resurrection in Christ, let us at-tend to both the fruit and the root of our fallen and failed human-ity. When we do this, when we allow God to search our hearts and minds, we can prepare the way for better days and stronger relationships. Matthew Henry, the great Puritan commentator, has properly written that we must experience “the cross before the crown.”

Rev. Dr. Donald P. Richmond, a priest with the Anglican Province of America, is a supervisor with Koinonia Family Services.

Lent is letting go,

not giving up

The Associated Press / File photoW. Deen Mohammed, facing, and Louis Farrakhan embrace and kiss at the annual Saviours’ Day gathering in a Sunday, Feb. 27, 2000, file photo, in Chicago, where Farrakhan reaffirmed his pledge to reconcile his breakaway movement with orthodox U.S. Muslims. Nation of Islam leader Farrakhan is heading into what’s billed as his final major address on Sunday, and some Muslims are wondering if the fiery orator will try to repair old divisions between his movement and mainstream Islam.

Nation of Islam comes full circle

The Associated Press / File photoBlack Nationalist leader Malcolm X is pictured at a 1963 rally at Lennox Avenue and 115th St. in the Harlem section of New York.

FARRAKHAN

B U C H A R E S T, Ro m a n i a (AP) — A Romanian priest was sentenced to 14 years in prison Monday for causing the death of a nun during an exorcism ritual. Four nuns were also sentenced in connection with her death.

The nun, Maricica Irina Cor-nici, believed she heard the devil talking to her. She was treated for schizophrenia, but when she relapsed, Daniel Petru Coroge-anu — a monk who served as the priest for the secluded Holy Trinity convent in northeast Romania — and the four other nuns tried exorcism.

Cornici, 23, was tied up for several days without food or wa-ter and chained to a cross. She died of dehydration, exhaustion and suffocation.

The court in the northeast city of Vaslui convicted Coro-geanu and the nuns of hold-ing Cornici captive, resulting in her death. One of the nuns, Nicoleta Arcalianu, was sen-tenced to eight years in prison, and the other three — Adina Cepraga, Elena Otel and Simo-na Bardanas — received five-year sentences.

Dozens of Corogeanu’s sup-porters packed the courtroom and prayed for the priest, with several bursting into tears when the verdict was announced.

The defendants’ lawyers plan to appeal, saying the sentences were too harsh.

Cornici’s death stunned Ro-mania and prompted the Ortho-dox Church to promise reforms, including psychological tests for those seeking to enter mon-asteries.

The church, which has bene-fited from a religious revival in recent years, condemned the rit-ual as “abominable” and banned Corogeanu from the priesthood and excommunicated the four nuns from the church.

While Orthodox churches reg-ularly perform exorcism rituals, Corogeanu’s methods were seen as excessively harsh. Church of-ficials noted he had dropped out halfway from the church’s reli-gion school. Despite leaving the program, he was anointed as a priest because of a shortage of priests to serve in new convents and monasteries.

Priest jailed for death during exorcism

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