,.
t eanc 0 VOL. 33, NO.5.
Friday, February 3, 1989
FALL RIVER, MASS.
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER
FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSEnS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
•
.$11 Per Year
Laity document released
Bishop's Pastoral Letter Bishop Daniel A. Cronin has written a Pastoral Letter on Penance and Reconciliation. Its issuing coincides with diocesan celebration oj the season oj Lent. The text oj the bishop's messageJoflows. Brothers and sisters in Christ. "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel (Mk. 1:15). With these words, the Lord began His public ministry. With these same words, each of us will be signed with the blessed ashes to begin the season of Lent. It seems altogether appropriate that as we begin together the great penitential season, we call to mind the divine law of penance and reflect together on the pastoral ramifications of this law in our own day. A Call to Repentance A reflection upon the history of salvation from Old Testament times through the mission of Christ and His Church to the present shows a constant call to conversion from God, our merciful Father: "The Lord does not wish the sinner to die but to turn back to Him and live" (Ez. 33:11). In the fullness of time, God would send His Son into the world: "It is precisely in this that God proves His love for us: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8). The Lord's Commission That the great Paschal Mystery of the Lord's death and resurrection would continue in time, He founded His Church and gave to Peter and his successors the commission: "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Mt. 16:19). From the time ofthe Lord's commission to His Apostles and their successors to the present day, Penance has had those two essential elements: loosing and binding. The pastoral ministry of the Church has in a variety of ways sought to point out and challenge a way of life unworthy of a Christian (binding) and to assist the sinner to conversion and reconciliation with God and the Church (loosing). Over the course of history, the Church has celebrated this sacrament in various ways in response to the needs of the community of faith. The New Rite The recent history of the Sacrament dates from 1974 when Pope Paul VI promulgated the new Rite of Penance for the reconciliation of sinners. This current celebra.tion of the Sacrament is intended to express: I. The nature of sin as an offense against God and the Church. 2. The simultaneous reconciliation with God and the Church. 3. The fact that the whole Christian community cooperates in the conversion of sinners. 4. The values of the Sacrament of Penance in fostering the Christian life. (Notitiae 4, 1968 p. 183) Personal Sin Let us reflect together on our personal use and experience of the Sacrament over these past fifteen years. Do we recognize the fact of sin in our own personal lives and its nature as an offense against both God and the church? How often we seem to have the idea that what we do or fail to do in our own
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope John Paul II's new document on the laity calls for improved religious formation of Catholics, a greater role for women in the church, and a stronger Christian witness at all levels of society. . In his long-awaited apostolic exhortation on "the vocation and mission of the lay faithful," the pope urged a marshaling of the laity to evangelize a world which he said is increasingly indifferent or hostile to Christianity. The pope warned of a "new state of affairs" in both church ·and society which "calls with a particular.urgency for the action of the lay faithful. "It is not permissible for anyone to remain idle," he said. As recommended by the 1987 World Synod of Bishops, two hotly
debated issues - lay movements and ministries - continue to be the subjects of separate Vatican studies, the p()pe said. ' The 200-page post-synodal apostolic exhortation is titled "Christifideles Laici: The Vocation and the Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World." Signed by the pope Dec. 30, the feast of the Holy Family, the document was made public by the Vatican on Monday. The exhortation draws heavily on the documents of Vatican II and the 54 final propositions voted on by delegates to the October 1987 synod at the end of their monthlong discussion of the laity's \iocation and mission. The document also raises concerns the pope has often voiced: - With increasing threats to
human dignity and Christian belief, and on the eve of third millennium of Christianity, Catholics should renew themselves and their societies. - In the face of religious indifference and secularism, the "responsibility" of Catholic laity "is to testify how the Christian faith constitutes the only valid response ... to the problems and hopes that life poses to every person and society." The pope balances support for post-conciliar developments with an affirmation of traditional structures and disciplines, particularly in his discussion of lay ministries, the role of women and new lay movements. His praise of the laity for its desire to be more actively involved Turn to Page Six
Marie loved the p·oor By Joseph Motta Marie Poussepin, foundress of the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation, cared about the poor. That concern was, according to Sister Joanna Fernandes, a member of her order, "her whole thrust." Sister Fernandes is a codirector of Marie's Place, a free clothing distribution center in Fall River's South End named for Mother Poussepin. . Marie's Place, Sister Fernandes said, ·had its beginnings about 18 months ago when she and a small group of friends, who wish to remain anonymous, "wanted to do something more to actively reach out to those who are needy." Sister Fernandes, 44, who is also her community's superior and
formation director for new candidates, had at one time volunteered at Taunton's Our Daily Bread Soup kitchen. Her friends had done similar work. All "just wanted, in varied ways, to let those people know we care," explained Sister Fernandes, a nurse by profession who serves on the board of directors at Fall River's St. Anne's Hospital, which is operated by her community. The native of St. Joseph's parish, Taunton, and her friends "made a commitment to help" and decided to open a center for distribution of free garments to anyone who requested them. They begin in the empty basement of. an Osborne. Street building that's home to some St. Anne's Hospital nurses. "We said, 'Let's try it and !lee
what happens,'" Sister Fernandes said. Marie's Place opened in November 1987. Its current hours are noon to 3 p.m. Mondays, noon to 2 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays. It closed for the summer months last year but no decision regarding 1989 warm weather plans has yet been reached. "The first couple of weeks," Sister Fernandes said, "were relatively slow, but as winter went on, we got more and more families" utilizing the center. The basement quickly became too small and last spring the center expanded to its host house's garage. St. Anne's Hospital employees were asked to donate clean clothes Turn to Page Seven
Turn to Page Six
CODIRECTORS Sister Joanna Fernandes, OP, and Bea Correa. (Motta photo)