teanco VOL. 43, NO.7¡ Friday, February 12, 1999
time to fine-tune By JAMES N. DUNBAR FALL RIVER - Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and Catholics across the world and throughout the diocese will step forward to receive the imprint of ashes on their foreheads as Lent begins. Those who at morning Mass receive the reminder "You are dust and into dust you shall return" or "Turn from sin and be faithful to the Gospel," will spend the rest of the day living their faith for all to see. And then, suddenly, Lent becomes an almost secret time to hone one's' spirituality by traditional methods such as prayer, fasting and almsgiving. In the earliest days of the Church for those who were baptized, these three disciplines - and receiving the Eucharist, were the principal means of making reparation for sin. Why ashes? The custom of placTurn to page J3 - Lent
Rules for Lent The Church's regulations for the Lenten season follow: - abstinence from meat on Ash Wednesday, all Fridays during Lent and Good Friday for those aged 14 and older; - Ash Wednesday and Good Friday arc to be observed as days of fasti ng.for those aged 18 to 59. Fasting is defined as eating only one full meal and two light meals during the day. Eating between meals is not permitted; however, liquids are permitted.
a
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly • $14 Per Year
Diocese plans celebration of the Year of the Father
Lent is a special our spirituality
FALL RIVER, MASS.
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD THE ISLANOS
~ "It is only right we .celebrate
Holy Spirit," said Father Avila. "In his Ad- cated to the Eucharist as the central mystery vent message to the diocese in December, of our lives of faith. and rejoice"- Luke 15:31 Bishop O'Malley said that the Church's liThe Gosp'eJ reading at the February 19 turgical calendar is without a specific feast Mass will be the familiar story of the return By JAMES N. DUNBAR to celebrate God the Father. We looked hard of the Prodigal Son taken from Luke 15, in FALL RIVER - A Mass of Reconcilia- . and came up with a focus on Lent and a time which a father welcomes back with open arms a son who had squandered his inheritance tion celebrated by Bishop Sean P. O'Malley for reconciliation." The jubilee Holy Year itself will be dedi- and then returns repentant asking for forgiveon the first Friday of Lent, February 19 at 7 ness. "I have been waiting for p.m., in St. Mary's Cathedral will you," the father says lovingly to center on God as Father in this his son upon his return. The fafinal year ofpreparation for the ther had been standing out on the . Jubilee 2000. roadway each day, scanning the "As you know, 1999 is the last horizon hoping for his son's reyear prior to the celebration and turn. It is a scriptural reading traour Holy Father has asked us to ditionally used at Penance serfocus our attention on God as Favices. ther, emphasizing His love and The late Father Henri J.M. compassion," the bishop said. Nouwen in 1995 wrote a book, In ke.eping with the theme, the "The Return of the Prodigal Son: Diocesan Jubilee Committee is A Story of Homecoming," offerassisting the bishop with the ing a new emphasis on the spiriplans for the special Mass. "This tual journey of sinners back to the will give us the opportunity to Father. That idea is at the center reflect on the Father's love for us of the celebration. and the spirit of reconciliation To be displayed in the Cathewhich is central to our Lenten. dral for the Mass and then for the journey," Bishop O',Malley remainder of the Year of the Faadded. ther, will be a reproduction of Father Stephen J. Avila, secreRembrandt's famous painting, tary to the bishop, said parishes "Return of the Prodigal Son," throughout the diocese will be furnished by St. Stanislaus Parsending delegations to the speish. The painting depicts the forcial Mass. He said that the upcomgiveness and compassion inhering celebration follows others ent in the love of God the Father marking the preparatory years for for all of his people. It is his love, the jubilee that commemorated forgiveness and compassion God the Son and God the Holy which will be at the heart of the Spirit. February 19 celebration, Father "You recall that on Ascension Avila said. Thursday in 1997 there was a diThe painting will be reproREMBRANDT'S 'Return of the Prodigal Son' depicts the ocesan celebration honoring God the Son, and on the Vigil of Pen- scene in Luke 15. A reproduction of the painting will be in the duced for the front side of a spetecost last year we had a special sanctuary of St. Mary's Cathedral for the Year of the Father cial prayer card being printed for liturgy honoring the Year of the celebration and until the Jubilee Year 2000. Turn to page 13 - Year
Hecker Justice Award Marykn~ller battles for human rights ~
Father Roy Bourgeois asks M,aryknoll Affiliates and others to press their Washington congressional delegations to halt funding the controversial U. S. Army School of the Americas. By PAT MCGOWAN
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Maryknoll Affiliates, lay men and women supporters of the work of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, whose members are informally known as Maryknoll Missioners, gathered recently at St. Anthony Parish here where they met a remarkable priest. He is Father Roy Bourgeois, described by a fellow Maryknoller as a patriot, priest and prophet who "has fasted, prayed, and gone to jail to stop the killing in Latin America." Much of that work, says Father Bourgeois, is the work of graduates of the U.S. Army School of the Americas at
Fort Benning Ga., where Latin American soldiers are trained to kill and torture those who rebel against dictatorial governments. A native of Lutcher, La., he majored in geology at the state university, then joined the Navy and served in the Vietnam War and devoted his free time to volunteering at a local orphanage. While in the country, he was wounded by shrapnel, for which he received the Purple Heart Award, and saw many of his comrades killed. The experience made' him consider his life goals more seriously and he decided to become a missionary. A chaplain suggested he think about Maryknoll. He entered that community and was ordained in 1972. While a seminarian, he had, with other protesters, picketed the White House holding a one-word sign, "Peace" for which he spend a night a jail. He had also written articles and lectured on the situation of Vietnamese children and refugees, driven a truck for Catholic Relief Services in Southeast Asia and helped begin a New York chapter of Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Turn to page J3 ---, Maryknoll
COMRADES - Maryknoll Father Roy Bourgeois meets with Owen McGowan of Somerset, a Maryknoll Affiliate and husband of Anchor writer Pat McGowan.