Youth Pages
March 22, 2013
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his past weekend I had the privilege of being on team for an ECHO retreat. On Saturday we gathered for the Mass for the Election of a Pope. It is very likely that when this is published we will already know who our new pope is. However, I would like to share the homily I offered to the girls that day since I tried to connect the events in Rome to the life of the high school student: “There has been a lot of coverage coming from Rome as the cardinals of the Church have been gathering to prepare for the start of the conclave on Tuesday. “Among the coverage has been a lot of speculation and opinions offered about what the Church needs to do and what is needed in the next pope. Some of these have been helpful, others obviously have
Let us pray for each other
no knowledge about what “How is all this relevant to is happening. The cardinals us? are ultimately not choosing a “I was asked to write a political leader, although there column about the reaction of are aspects of governance that B16’s resignation and what go with the job. they thought about the job he “Cardinal Dolan said it best did. a week ago. When asked what the cardinals were looking for His Eminence said, ‘Hopefully we’ll choose the one who most resembles Jesus.’ “This is not By Father naive thinking, but David C. Frederici the factor that will determine the future effectiveness of the Church. We believe that the “I had a difficult time getScriptures present Christ in ting students to say what they what we call the threefold min- thought of B16’s job perforistry: Priest, Prophet and King. mance. There were a few rea“So the pope will need to sons for this. They didn’t pay be a good administrator, but much attention to the day-toalso a good priest and a good day operations of the Vatican, teacher. they really didn’t know much
Be Not Afraid
good friends — The Friends of Greater Fall River offered its support of St. Vincent’s Home’s mission to help children and youth coping with childhood abuse, trauma, and neglect. Some members of the Friends of Greater Fall River pictured in the photo are, back row from left: Janna Lafrance, President Helinette Souza, Geri Holewiak, Angie Amarantes, Lisa Van Regenmorter, and Janis Karam, along with St. Vincent’s Executive Director Jack Weldon. Front: Dale Ferris and Maggy Biszko.
Friends of Greater Fall River award $5,000 grant to St. Vincent’s Home
Fall River — The Friends of Greater Fall River (formerly the Friends of Saint Anne’s) awarded $5,000 to St. Vincent’s Home to be used for trauma treatment services. The donation was made from the proceeds of a very successful Autumn Basket Evening held in November at White’s of Westport which featured gift baskets of local products and themes. St. Vincent’s children and youth who are receiving trauma and sensory integration treatment will directly benefit from the support. This donation “is truly in line with our mission statement,” said
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the Friends of Greater Fall River president, Helinette Souza. “The proceeds from this event are going to an organization dedicated to making life better for children and young adults.” St. Vincent’s executive director, Jack Weldon thanked the Friends of Greater Fall River saying, “We are very appreciative of the Friends of Greater Fall River for its support of our efforts in the community,” said Weldon. “Helping children and youth to heal and grow is an important part of the work we do at St. Vincent’s.” The Friends of Greater Fall
River was established more than 50 years ago as a volunteer program of Saint Anne’s Hospital. Since the Saint Anne’s Hospital merger with Steward Health Care, the Friends of Greater Fall River became a separate not-forprofit organization with a volunteer board of directors consisting of community-minded individuals. The Mission of the Friends of Greater Fall River is to serve the community by helping those in need. The Friends own and operate the Hospital Gift Shop and allocate all proceeds directly to local charities.
about him, etc. “What I found as the biggest reason was the pope was not one to rate, his role is to inspire, to help us live an authentic faith. “Think about it, his public appearances are not announcing government appointments or state of the union. His public appearances are the Sunday Angelus, weekly audience, homilies at the celebration of Mass. These are how he teaches, encourages and inspires us to live and grow in faith. In short, his role is to encourage us to be Christ in the world as priest, prophet and king. “Isaiah tells us today that ‘you yourselves shall be named priests of the Lord’ (Is 61:6). “Our Baptism incorporates us into the priesthood of the faithful. This is different than the ordained priesthood Father Jeff Cabral and I share. “The ‘Catechism’ states that ‘the faithful exercise their baptismal priesthood through their participation, each according to their own vocation, in Christ’s mission as priest, prophet and king.’ “This priesthood is exercised through full, active and conscious participation in the Liturgy. In addition, we each
have a role in the one mission that St. Paul speaks of in the second reading. “Parents function as prophet and king in raising their children and teaching them the faith. The laity provides the leadership in the proclamation of the Gospel in the world: business, politics, education, etc. The ordained priest serves the priesthood of the faithful in carrying out their mission. “You are all involved in a process of discernment: coming to a better understanding of who you are, what your gifts and talents are and how God is calling you to live in this world. When we involve God in our discernment, we have a better chance of finding the path that will bring us closer to God and allow us to live in peace and joy. The ‘Spirit of truth will guide you’ (Jn 16:13) if you allow Him. “So my friends, let us pray for our Church. Let us pray for the College of Cardinals, that they may choose a leader that resembles Christ and inspires us to be Christ. But let us also pray for each other. That we may allow ourselves to be guided by the Spirit and open our hearts and minds to being transformed into other Christs in our world.” Father Frederici is chaplain at UMass Dartmouth.
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