07.29.94

t eanc 0 VOL. 38, NO. 29

•

Friday, July 29,1994

FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS

F ALL RIVER, MASS.

Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly

•

$11 Per Year

Agencies struggle to aid Rwandan disaster victims

' ••...

j, • *'.11.( ,,~.J" ,.

JI ~. . t ' - .

JOSEPH AND SILVANA PAVAO

50 years together

A heartwarming love story When Laurie Pavao, known to thousands of WPRO·Radio listeners as Laurie Johnson, the station's 4 a.m. to noon news anchor, sent a letter to this Anchor about the 50th wedding anniversary of her parents-in-law, she thought a reporter might visit their Dighton home to write a story about them. But her own description of their life together was so moving, no outside comment was needed. It follows.

[This month] my husband's mother and father, Silvana and Joseph Pavao of Dighton, are celebrating their 50th wedding' anniversary.

It's a milestone for our family certainly, but there is a beautiful story behind their love and their raising of seven children through often tough times. Two of the children, twins, are handicapped. All seven have married and become successful, productive citizens.

There are a dozen grandchildren around the tree at Christmas time.

Even so, the COli pIe, whose home bears the sign "Receive all Guests as Christ," continues to spin an ever-widening cocoon of love encircling all who know them.

Silvana is a woman with the rare quality of humility. She's also a woman offew words.

To all who know her, she is a shining example of feminine warmth and strength.

Joe is a character. At age 76, he works sometimes 10 hours a day in his 10 acre garden.

He's helping renovate the new church hall at St. Peter's in Dighton. He always wears a smile, offers a kind word, and prides himself on having ajoke ready for any occasion. He never holds a grudge and never sends folks out of his garden empty-handed. His devotion to St. Peter's parish earned him the Marian Medal.

Together Joe and Sil have instilled in their children a love for each other and a commitment to dedication and family, the likes of which we don't often hear about today.

At harvest time, sons, daughters, and second sons and daughters gather to pick, wash and pack vegetables tQ sell. In the fall there's firewood to be stacked. A birthday is never forgotten. A long distance phone call from daughter Joan or son Jim means minutes ahead to be savored.

In 1955, the birth of Joe and Sil's third son, John, necessitated a move from Fall River to Dighton. A blind child, they thought, needed safe play areas with less traffic. John's twin, Jane, would be hospitalized for dozens of operations in the years ahead. She walks on crutches today. John [Laurie's husband]. is a computer scientist for the Navy.

There's the story about the twins' tandom bike made by Joe. The Fall River Herald News took pictures of it 30 years ago. They are prou<ily displayed in the family album.

Imagine two bikes welded side by side with a blind brother pedaling for a twin sister who' could only steer.

Then there were baseball games Joe and Sil couldn't make. She didn't drive and he was working threejobs to make ends meet. These are folks who look at the Somerset reservoir and remember the land underneath it when it was the bustling Pavao family farm in the 1930s. When the reservoir is low, we can still see the property marker sticking up.

My special in-laws just returned from an Alaskan cruise which they describe as the trip of a lifetime. I am so grateful to have these folks as my second "mom" and "dad."

The celebration of the Panos' 50 years together was attended by over 100 family members and friends and 'was highlighted by their renewal of wedding vows at a ceremony conducted by Father Francis Allen, SMM, pastor of St. Peter's parish.

WASHINGTON (CNS) - The distress of more than I million Rwandan refugees massed around the town of Goma and other sites in Zaire was compounded by runaway cholera which was killing thousands and had overwhelmed the resources of aid organizations.

At one point, it. was estimated refugees were dying at a rate of one per minute. The epidemic, triggered by contaminated water brought on by the sanitation crisis which accompanied the sudden flood of refugees, had killed thousands by July 25.

Pope John Paul II pleaded with international organizations and political leaders to mount a massive rescue operation.

The United States has mobilized military units to assist in transporting medicine, food and equipment for providing clean water.

Meanwhile, a less publicized, but nearly as massive refugee crisis was developing in the southern Rwandan town of Gikongoro where some 880,000 undernourished and exhausted displaced Rwandans were gathered.

Catholic Relief Services was running a 30D-ton-per-week emergency feeding program in Gikongoro which provided part of the nutritional needs of about 100,000 refugees.

But on July 25, the spread of disease was declared beyond the capacity of humanitarian resources in Goma.

"It is out of control," said Peter Hansen, U. N. undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and head of U.N. emergency relief coordination.

Aid workers sought a new site for mass graves as thousands of bodies piled up in camps and by the roadside. They estimated that the death toll had risen to about 11,000.

Comm~)J1 graves covering an area the size of a football field had already been filled.

Between the town of Goma and Katale camp, about 40 miles north, several thousand bodies awaited collection. Corpses were so densely packed along the roadsides that some bore the marks of tires from passing vehicles.

Little bundles of children bound in cloth or reed mats lay next to the bigger forms that had been their parents.

~

A RWANDAN mother's face mirrors despair as she holds her dying baby and waits for aid at a medical station in Goma, Zaire. eNS / Reuters photo)

r-----,.In This I s s u e - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , New Look at Vowed Life Page 2

60 Years for Fall River Brother Page 3

Planting Tonight on the Mall Page 7

This Deacon Has Racetrack Ministry Page 16

1/ :,.

2

. ':: -: ';"

Th~

Religions, two 'bish'o'ps" ask' '(' new look at vowed life

Ant'h6r

Friday, July 29, 1994

Religious'leaders support Aristide WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Returning from a trip to Haiti, religious leaders have asked President Clinton to show unambiguous support for exiled President Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide and have accused the U.S, government of complicity in the 1991 coup that forced him into exile, Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton was part of a' Witness for Peace delegation that went to Haiti.

The group said a U.S. military invasion would be the wrong way to help Haiti return to democratic rule. Tightened trade restrictions WRAPPING UP final details for the annual Evening on combined with an end to mixed signals from the White House will Cape Cod with Bishop O'Malley are, frorilleft, Mrs. Katherine make military action unnecessary, Lancisi, first vice-president of the Diocesan Council of Catholic they said.

Women; Father Edward C. Duffy, moderator for the Cape Bishop Gumbleton criticized the and Islands district of the council; and Mrs. Bella Nogueira, Catholic hierarchy of Haiti for coun~il president. Tickets are still available at rectories for the what he said is their failure to oppose the de facto leadership. He 'council-sponsored event, which will include music by the said the U.S. and international Music Plus Combo, hors de'oeuvres and canapes and the bishops' organizations have failed opportunity to greet the bishop. Proceeds benefit a wide range Haiti by not taking that country's of Catholic Charities social welfare programs. (Lavoie photo) bishops to task.

Bishop Gumbleton said the Haitian bishops have called for better treatment of their count ry's people, but they have not pressured the military rulers to leave and for Father Aristide to be returned to office.

DAYTON, Ohio (CNS) - St. which we live, it's an audiovisual The bishop said that recently Raphael School in Louisville, Ky" culture," said Sister Angela Ann the Haitian bishops have begun to had expected to enroll 470 stuZukowski, director of the Center indicate they "are not going to dents this fall, but instead, teachers for Religious Communication at make it difficult" for Father Aris- are planning for at least 525. the University of Dayton and an tide to return to office. The priestPrincipal Paul Dezarn attributes organizer of New Frontiers. president was dismissed from his the 12 percent increase to the "When we start to think about Salesian order but remains a priest. school's aggressive pursuit of how young people learn .today, In a statement issued at a recent technology in the classroom. "It's they learn through this audiovisCapitol Hill press conference the turning these kids on. It's phenoual culture," said Sister Zukowski; Witness for Peace group called menal," he said during an annual a Mission Helper of the Sacred Haiti a prison where men are abconference cosponsored by the NaHeart. "Print is important in ducted, tortured and killed, where tional Catholic Educational Assoteaching, but print is only one women are raped by soldiers, whl:re ciation and the University of Dayelement." children wait in long lines for a Apprehension can be an obstaton. serving of soybeans and cornmeal, Teachers and administrators cle for teachers' facing new techand from which families try to nology, the schools report. Some from 19 Catholic schools across escape in rickety boats. the nation recently met at the uni- teachers respond well to self-instruction on new equipment; oth"I t is a prison which .the United versity for the technology-focused States government helped to build "New Frontiers for Catholic Edu- ers rely on fellow teachers to guide and [to which it) now holds the cation 111.'" them. key," the 'statement said, "I went from doing absolutely Dezarn and representatives from nothing [with technology) to actu- .

It asked路 Clinton to discipline 'four other schools that participated ally enjoying it," said Nancy Carthe U.S. agencies that "tried to in last year's gathering came to the rig, who teaches government and undermine President Aristide's po- '94 conference to report on the world studies at St. Gertrude, sition through character assassi- progress their schools made durThe technology ~ printers, ing the year. Representatives from nation, opposition to his leaderthe remaining 14 attended to learn CD/ ROMs, laser discs and comship within Haiti and complicity in about technology and develop long- puter networks - can represent a the coup d'etat against him." range plans for their own schools. substantial investment, and it has "Many people in Haiti are susInail, 36 Catholic schools have given Catholic school officials a picious of what the United States participated in the ongoing pro- new awareness of potential donors did in the period leading up to the time of the coup," Bishop Gum- ject, with veterans advising new- and sources of funding, With a little research, sometimes , bleton explained, citing a CIA comers.

They have found that classroom on the Internet computer network, report questioning Father Aristide's technology reflects changes in both and self-promotion., New Fronmental health that was widely distiers schools have found industry, learning and teaching. tributed shortly after the cou p Kindergarten students at As- foundation and community resourand, he said, has since been proven sumption of the Blessed Virgin ces that offer grants, gifts of groundless.

Mary School in Belmont, Mich., equipment and no- or low-interest The religious group's statement loans. make cartoon starfish dance with urged the U.S. government to adopt But t he initial focus of the proa "consistent, sensitive and just a click of a computer mouse. gram is for schools to use equipSixth-graders at St. Joseph Haitian refugee policy that receives' ment they already possess. "We Haitians with the same openness School in Decatur, Ind., use computer models to control and then encourage people to start where that we receive Europeans, Cubans they're at and to use well what they very amounts of light, food and and others." have," Sister Zukowski said. "We heat to simul~te how路 germs grow also want them to think about in real conditions, 1111111111111111I1111111111111111111111111111111111111111I11111111111111 where they'd like to be in four or And teenagers at St. Gertrude THE ANCHOR (USPS-545-020). Second High School in Richmond, Va., five years."

Class Postage Paid at Fall River. Mass.

Identifying "strategic partners" videotape their news-style interPublished weekly except the week of.luly 4 and the week after Christmas'at XXTHigh路 views of students as gladiators in . to help them meet long-range goals land Avenue. Fall River. Mass. 02720 by the Roman Coliseum and cover- can mean making contacts among. the Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall age of the Sistine Chapel's reopenparents with technological ability River. Subscription price by mail. postpaid ing to bring history to life for their as well as with foundations that $11.00 per year.Poslmastcrs send add res' provide grants to purchase equipchanges' to The Anchor. P.O. Hox 7. Fall . world路 studies class.. ment, she said."

River. MA 02722.

"When we look at the culture in

High tech brings higher enrollments, donations

MILWAUKEE(CNS) - Leaders of 23 religious orders in the Milwaukee archdiocese have called for a new look at the religious vows of poverty, chastity and 0 bedience in a joint pastoral letter with Milwaukee's two Catholic bishops.

"Formerly, the vows were seen principally as a means of separation from the world in order to focus one's attention on developing a personal relationship with God," said the letter, which was signed by Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland, Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Skiba and the religious superiors.

"The vows do help center one's life in God, but they can also facilitate participation in the world's affairs in order to bring social and political forces into closer harmony with the Gospel," they added.

The letter, "Called Anew by the Spirit: A Contemporary Reflection on Apostolic Religious Life," reflects input from parishioners, business and ethnic leaders, members and former members of religious communities, and university students.

"The prevailing view of religious is often the 'Sister Act' nuns or pudgy little monks promoting aperitifs," said Archbishop Weakland~ a Benedictine and former superior, in a statement.

"These images belie the beauty and value of religious life," he added. "It is therefore appropriate that in our l50th anniversary year [of the archdiocese], we reflect on the richness of this special calling."

The document said the vow of celibacy does not ask religious to "smother legitimate needs for support and affection," but is' rather "a choice that has to do with being available, mobile, ready to spend

EDICTAL CITATION DIOCESAN TRIBUNAL FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS Since the actual place of residence of HELEN MANN is unknown.

We cite HELEN MANN, to appear personally before the Tribunal of the Diocese of Fall River on Thursday, August 4, 1994 at 2:30 p.m. at 887 Highland Avenue, Fall River, Massachusetts, to give testimon'y to establish: Whether. the nullity of the marriage exists in the STAAB-MANN case?

Ordinaries of the place or other pastors having the knowledge of the residence of the above person, must see to it that she is properly advised in regard to this edictal citation.

Jay T. Maddock Judi~ial Vicar Given at the Tribunal, Fall River, Massachusetts, on this 22nd day of July, 1994.

EDICTAL CITATION DIOCESAN TRIBUNAL FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS Since the actual place of residence of KENT F. BURNETT is unknown.

We cite KENT F. BURNETT, to appear personally before the Tribunal of the Diocese of Fall River on Thursday, August 4, 1994 at 10:30 a.m. at887 Highland Avenue, Fall River, Massachusetts, to give testimony to establish: Whether the nullity of the marriage exists in the GOMES-BURNETT case?

Ordinaries of the place or other pastors having the knowledge of the residence of the above person, must see to itthat heis properly advised in regard to this edictal citation.

Jay T. Maddock Judicial Vicar Given at the Tribunal, Fall River, Massachusetts, on this 22nd day of July, 1994.

oneself totally in service to the church and world."

Celibacy also has a "countercultural dimension," it said. "The fact that psychologically healthy people can live celibately in warm and loving relationships sugge!,ts that human sexuality has a meaning that transcends sexual interc:lurse."

Obedience is seen as "a 'tun-ofr word in our society," the Milwaukee leaders said, adding that they reject "any understanding of obedience that suggests passive meekness; blind submission to arbitrary orders; or a denial of one's ability to think, ask questions and be heard."

"Obedience, like the other vows, finds its meaning in reading the signs of our complex times ,:lI1d in responding with a new sense of mission," the document said. "In the end, obedience leads us back to basics: creative fidelity; loving and intelligent acceptance of God's desire for us and all of creation; and faith-inspired action for justice in our troubled world."

Poverty, too, is seen as "!iOmething to avoid rather than something to embrace," the leaders. said.

And while religious work against economic poverty for others:, tbey choose for themselves a poverty that "means living simply, ai; free as possible frpm absorbing preoccupation with goods and security, so that we might be better ahle to demonstrate our solidarity with the poor."

The document urged religious to ask themselves whether they were becoming "too comfortable, too middle-class, too enmesh,~d in the individualism and the consumer,ism of ou'r culture." .

"We encourage one anotht:r to go beyond merely sharing and to enter the struggle for systemic change which is designed to assure a more equitable distributio n of the world's wealth and resoun:es," it added.

"The way of the vows is not: the only way. It will never be a common way," they added. "But it is one way; it is our way to live fully human lives -lives that are open to divine action and sensitive to divine realities; lives that are spent healing, comforting, serving and seeking justice."

Second Summe~r - Splash set The. diocesan Office. for Youth Ministry services will sponsor, its second annual "Summer Splash" 2 to 6 p.m. Aug. 7 on the ground1i of Bishop Connolly High School, Fall River. The event invites young people from all over the diocese to participate in an afternoon of games, socializing, food and prayer. Last year more than 300 youth and their adult advisors attendt:d.

Acommittee of youth and adults has planned this year's program, which includes zany icebreakers, volleyball, relays and make-yourown sundaes. A DJ witr provide music throughout the afternoon.

There will be plenty of .lime for mingling and renewing old friendships, as well as forming new one:s, before the event closes with a prayer service.

Parish high schom and junior high youth groups are invited 1.0 register with the Office of Youth Ministry Services, 676-6503; individuals may register as well. The office is open 9 a.m. to 4 p,m.

Saered Heart Home honors Sister Therese Bergeron Retiring in June from the post of nursing director at Sacred Heart Home, New Bedford, Sister Therese Bergeron, SCQ, was honored at a reception at the Hawthorne Country Club which began with a surprise limo ride.

She was greeted at the club by present and former home employees, fellow Sisters of Charity of Quebec, family ml:mbers and friends. Offering the invocation and compliments on her career was Father Matthew Sullivan, SS.CC. A New Bedford native, Sister Bergeron graduated from Holy Name High School, then worked as a receptionist and payroll clerk for Freedman Shoe Factory. Completing music education with the Holy Cross Sisters at St, Anthony's parish, she earned a diploma e- . quivalent to a bachelor's degree' and was an organist at Our Lady of Fatima parish from 1941 to, 1945.

She then attended St. Anne's Hospital School of Nursing, graduating in 1948. She entered the Sisters of Charity of Quebec in 1949 and professed vows in 1951, thereafter working for seven years in Canadian hospitals.

She came to Sacred Heart Home in 1958. She served as a hel,ld nurse before being named director of nursing in 1968. She completed a course in administra.tion at Babson College, Wellesley, and earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from Southeastern Massachusetts University in 1974.

Sister Bergeron' is a member of the Amer;~~~,Nurses A~s~~iatio~, and the Massachusetts Nurses As- ' sociation. In addition~ she is vice president of the Diol;esan Council of Catholic Nurses" treasurer of the New Bedford chapter of the council, .and a m(:mber of the board of the New England Council of Catholic Nurses.

After a leave of absence, she will return to Sacred Heart Home to organize a pastoral care department.

SeculatFrnnciscan bran~h sponsors ecology plrogram

Retir,ed religious'J fund falls short by $6.3 billion WASHINGTON (CNS) - Despite fund-raising and cost-cutting efforts, the retirement liability for members of U,S. religious orders increased by $1.4 billion over the past two years to reach $6.3 billion.

Information about the shortfall was released by the l;lccounting firm of Arthur Andersen & Co., which prepared the 1994 Retirement Needs Survey report from data provided by U.S. religious institutes to the Tri-Conference Retirement Office.

The $150 million raised in six national collections for retired religious since 1987 failed to cover even the retirement cost increases attributable to inflation alone, estimated at $200 million per year, BROTHER EUGENE the report said.

"It is therefore increasingly imHARDY will celebrate 60 yea'rs as a Brother of Chris- portant to go beyond traditional tian Instruction on Aug. 7 at fund raising efforts to additional sources of revenue such as lay his community's provincial' equivalent salaries, rental income, house in Alfred, Maine. A cost allocations to subsidiary instinative of Notre Dame parish, tutions and creative ways to reduce Fall River, where the brothers retirement costs through collaborstaffed the former Prevost ative efforts and operating efficiencies," said Dale Kent, head of High School for wany years, the survey team for Arthur Anderhe entered the community at sen. age 13 and bega" teaching at The report was prepared from 1993 data submitted by religious age 16.

During 32 years in the class- institutes representing 94 percent all U.S. religious. The Triroom he served .in schools in of Conference Retirement Office enthe dioceses of Ogdensburg, tered the responses into a compuN. Y., and Portland, Maine, ter program, from which Arthur and was also a school prefect Andersen compiled the final report.

The report showed that in 1993, and superior at several houses only 3 percent of U.S. women religof the community and a sum- ious were under age 40, while 22, mer camp counselor and bur- percent were, 80 or over. Among sar. men" religious, '12 percent were In 1970 he came to Notre under 40 and only 8 percent were Dame Institute in Alfred as 80 or older. was some good news in superior and a parttime teach- theThere data. "The amount of assets er at a boarding school then designated for retirement continues on the campus; and since 1982 to grow and now totals $4.543 bil-

he has been Notre Dame treasurer.

A sister, Paulette Hardy Fortin, is a member ,of Holy Name parish in Fall River.

lion in 1993," the report said. In addition, the number of religious who wjll have to draw from those retirement funds is down 19 percent since 1985.

Kent said the $1.4 billion increase in unfunded retirement liability could be attributed to several factors, including: - Higher actual costs of caring for retired religious than had been projected, including increases in health care costs.

- The addition of 62 groups of religious who had not reported any unfunded retirement liability in past studies.

-Interest costs on the unfunded liability of $500 million over the past two years.

Sister of St. Joseph Janet Roesener, Tri-Conference Office director, said the funding crisis "makes orders confront difficult decisions, such as whether or not to cut back on the number of sisters who can serve without being paid a stipend."

"Religious also have worked,to negotiate higher stipends for their work in dioceses, where most of them work and where stipends vary nationwide," she added in a

Three Sins "There are only three sins causing pain, causing fear, causing anguish. The rest is window dressing." - Roger Caras

.) ST. ANTHONY OF TIlE DESERT PARISH 300 NORTH EASTERN AVENUE FALL RIVER, MA 02723

-::I

:J

3

statement. "Fewer and fewer religious can work without a salary and just rely on the rest of the order to support them."

According to the National Association of Treasurers of Religious Institutes, diocesan stipends for fiscal year 1993-94 ranged from $3,600 to $29,558, with the average stipend under $15,000.

"With every person on a stipend supporting two or three elderly members, the stipends are pretty well stretched," said Sister Roesener.

She thanked Catholics for their strong response to the annual collection for retired religious. "It's very satisfying for our retired members to know that people are grateful for the education they received from sisters who taught in Catholic schools, and for the services provided to the public in the form of social services centers and hospitals," she said.

IS SEEKING PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE IN PERPETUAL ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT ONE HOUR PER WEEK BEGINNING IN SEPTEMBER IF INTERESTED, PLEASE CONTACT:

672-7653 or 678-3423

POLISH, PICNI,C

MRS,gets grant

, WASHINGTON (eNS) - The ~.S. Catholic Church's refugee agency has' been awarded a WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. $100,000 planning grant under (CNS) - The U.S . branch,of the, Presidet:lt Clinton'S national youth' Secular F,ranciscan Order will' service program, A'meriCorps. The . sponsor a national ecology apos~ planning grant will be used by the tolate leadership training' conferU:S. Catholic Conference's Mience Sept. 3-9 at Grliymoor Chrisgration and Refugee Services . tian Unity Center, Garrison, N.Y. (M RS) to plan community and The conference will include workvolunteer programs for young newshops on the environment by comers to t.he country. AmeriCorps church leaders, scientists and offers young people community educators. service work in exchange for colIt will address such issues as lege funds. In consultation with public health implications of air diocesan affiliateS, MRS projects and water pollution, ethics of might include aiding the elderly, resource management, ecological single mothers, other "at-risk" impacts of commercialism and con- populations, or refugees and immisumerism, and animal care and grants wit.h unme! needs. concerns.

Outdoor programs and activi- 111111111111I11111111111111I111111111111I11111111I111111111111111111111111111 ties such as wildflower gardening director of the qitizens Clearingand wilderness exploration will be house for Hazardous Waste Inc. in included, along with a group camp- Falls Church, Va:; and Franciscan fire experience.

Brother Kevin Smith, executive Speakers include Walter E. director of Franciscans at the Uni-, . Grazer, .manage:r of the U.S. ted Nations.

Catholic Con(er,ence's environFor more information, write mental justice program; Passionist Ecology Conference, National EcFather Thomas B(:rry, cultural his- ology Commission, Secular Fran~ torian theologian and author; Lois .ciscan Order, 107 Jensen Circle, Marie Gibbs, author of "Love West Springfield,· MA 01089 or Canal: My Story;" and executive call (413) 737-7600.

Tl;I.~ANS::lJo.~:J:7'rOtoce~C';:()f Fall River.--:- f.rio, July 29, 1994

FAMILY FUN

AUGUST',7 12 ,"NOON' -9'P.M.

HOLY, ROSARY, CHURCH 80 BAY ST.. TAUNTON ,

HOMEMADE POLISH FOODS

,

CABBAGE SOUP . PIEROGI . RYE BREAD . KIELBASA • GOLOMBKI

DICK PILLAR • POLKABRATlON BAND 12 NOON - 4 P.M.

THE- SWINGING BRASS 4;30 - 9:00 P.M. RAIN OR SHINE

• GAMES & CRAFTS • CHILDREN'S AREA • POLISH GIFT ITEMS • HOT DOGS • HAMBURGERS.·' COLD BEVERAGES • ,ICE CREAM

.

the moorina-,·

the living word

Family Affair What do we consider a normal family? Perhaps we might respond by imagining a father, mother and children. Then we might have to add several codicils depending upon our own mores, beliefs and customs. When all this has been done, it becomes apparent that what we might consider the typical family could be a rather subjective and individualistic concept, given the whims of today's social order.

The current notion that it i~ impossible to give an objective definition of "family" rcally flies in the face of truth. For people of faith, family has a meaning directly opposed to the soap opera mind-set so prevalent today.

Let us consider what such a view has done to American family life. According to a recent study by the Bureau of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce, family life per se is in deep trouble. For example, the report found that a child in a one-parent situation was just slightly more likely to be living with a divorced parent than with a parent who never married. This situation is directly traceable to the increase in births to unmarried women.

Also contributing to the rapid increase of one-parent families is the alarming divorce rate. The report indicated that more children are living with their fathers, up nine percent from 1970. It also stated that a higher proportion of AfricanAmerican children, 57 percent, lived with one parent than did White, 21 percent, or Hispanic, 32 percent, children.

Some other trends which alter the concept of family in America are reported by the study. More than 3 million children under age 18 live with grandparents. The ramification of such situations are enormous, with the age factor alone placing unexpected demands on all concerned.

It was also pointed out by the study that more and more people are living alone - one out of eight adults. In the last 20 years the number of women living alone rose 94 percent while the number of men rose 167 percent.·Thus in one generation an entirely new living trend has unexpectedly emerged.

These are but some of the realities that must be dealt with as we attempt to help people:. many of them in our own·families, to regulate their lives. Trendy pop psychology is doing little to help in this area. For too long too many have allowed their lives to be influenced by input from such sources as MTV and Playboy.

Obviously such reliance has failed. The games that people play with each other are too ~ften ending in personal disaster.

We need to stop listening to the false prophets of our society and open our ears and hearts to truth.

The church has long been the mainstay offamily life. To be sure, it must offer kindness, charity and healing to families and individuals who are suffering in relationships with one another, but this is not sufficient.

The church must always teach truth, no matter how difficult the problem at handor how confused the situation. It is more than important to realize that the well-being of both the individual and of Christian society is intimately linked with the healthy condition of marriage and the family.

We should not hesitate, no matter how difficult it may be, to teach that God himself is the author of marriage and has blessed this relationship, not only for the benefit of individuals but also for the dignity, stability, peace and prosperity of the family and of human society in general.

The Editor

the

OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Pu.blished weekly by The Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall River 887 Highland Avenue P.O. BOX 7 Fall River, MA 02720 Fall River, MA 02722-0007 Telephone 508-675-7151 FAX ~508) 675-7048 Send address changes to P.O. Box 7 or call telephone number above

GENERAL MANAGER

EDITOR

Rosemary Dussault

Rev. John F. Moore •

~ Leary Pless-Fait RIver'

•

Brtl~n

photo

MARIO LOPES OF TAUNTON ENJOYS THE WATERS OF CATHEDRAL CAMP'S LONG POND

"The Lord...Ieads me out to the cool water's brink, refreshed and contelrlt."

Ps.22:2-3

-------------------------------Let's end educational discrimination In one scenario a Catholic family of modest means looks with dismay at the tuition figure for their local Catholic high school: $3,000. The parents have sacrificed to place their children in a Catholic elementary school, and want to continue that tradition into high school. But when they balance everything involved, they don't see how they can meet that tuition bill.

Another scenario: A city family, poor but striving, not necessarily Catholic, is dismayed and frightened by conditions at the public school their children are assigned to. They look longingly at a nearby Catholic school where educational order is kept and academic performance is high. But that alternati ve will cost $1 ,500 for one child and $2,500 for two - and the expense is not tax deductible. There is no real choice for this family. It must use the "free" schooling. that it perceives as poor and dangerous.

Neither of these scenarios is a happy one. Nei~her is, strictly speaking, necessary.

For a long time, American Catholics have supported a vast system of schools that fill the public function of producing educated citizens. Because of a strand in our national tradition that feared oppression from organized religion, those schools have only 'Very grudgingly been granted recognition for their public service, but the amount of public financial support they receive remains s·mall.

The American tax pool for education is basically closed to a system that serves nearly 2.6 million children, tens of thousands ofthem from poor inner-city families that are not Catholic.

Catholics who support Catholic schools are not whiners when they complain that the present financ-

ing of American education is unfair.

They simply see clearly. In most other countries with developed systems of schooling, the American way would make no sense.

People elsewhere assume as a matter of simple justice that a school which follows basic public standards receives public financing. If the school also has a religious dimension, that is an addition to, not a corruption of its basic educational mission.

This may seem an odd time of year to be thinking about schools.

But it happens that a new effort has been organized this summer calling attention to the discrimination that exists in American basic education.

A National Coalition of Catholic School Parents' Associations and a National Advisory Committee for Parents of Catholic School

praye~BOX Mother of Sorrows Father, as your Son was raised on the cross, his mother Mary stood llY him, sharing his suffering. May your Church be united with Christ in his suffering and death and so come to share in his rising to new life, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

National Shrine chapel prayer

Students have been formed 1:0 do grassroots work at the state and national levels in gaining :more real choice for families. The Catholic School Parents' Associations is a new arm of the U.S. Catholic Conference Department of Education. It wants tax dollars to go with students in order to end discrimination against parents who wish to educate their children outside the state school system.

It is a matter of both fairness and practicality. American Ca.tholic schools offer a major alternative for families in all parts oJ the country and educate children from all economic levels and fa.iths.

Further, almost one-fourth of current Catholic school enrollment is from minority groups who most need good options, and almm,t 13 percent attend inner-city schools in our cities where the needs are greatest. About 13 percent are not Catholic.

The knock on Catholic schools a generation ago was that they were too exclusive. Staffed by religious women, most of them in religious habit, their culture was heavily sectarian. Not so today. · While the schools continue trying to maintain an environment clearly reflecting Catholic faith and tmdition, most teachers and principals are lay people. The schools are a Catholic presence in our nei,ghborhoods and towns offering no less than a good quality modl:rn education.

They also' offer more, but :ire heavily penalized for it. And l:he , parents who want to utilize th,:m are penalized. That's simply unju.st.

Parents ought to get organized to fight for an end to that discri m· ination. '. , . This editorial originally'appeared in t.he Catholic Messenger; newspaper ofthe diocese of Davenport, · IA·.

'H·······,·····,···· ow are we saved'?

Q. Our Catholic paper reported recently a planned "reconciliation" of Catholics and Lutherans in 1997 on the doctrine of jU!ltification.

If Lutherans believe what the article says, "each pE!rSOn is justified and saved not by any human merit," how does this differ from the sin of presumption?

Have we no responsibility to strive for salvation? Will our church close its eyes to this glaring error in its eagerness for "reconciliation ''1Pennsylvania A. First of all, any hint of even partially healing the wounds that have divided Christian churches for centuries should be a cause of joy for all of us.

Surely we need to be committed to our own faith and doctrines.

Much of the mutual animosity, however, that has dogged the followers of Christ down to our own day results from attitudes that frequently go far beyond that kind of good commitment.

You must know from your own personal experienc(: that when an argument becomes bitter, we tend to put the worst possible meani~g on what the other person says.

The healthy, more charitable and more honest alternative is first to be sure that our understanding of our opponent's words is the same as his.

Someone said we should never try to refute anyone until we can repeat his position to his satisfaction. That good Etdvice is often ignored, with the result that both sides gleefully destroy an opponent or a "doctrine" that exists only in their own minds.

In other words, we sometimes reach the point where keeping the enmity l\live is more important than finding grounds for reconciliation.

Some area of disagreement between the Catholic and Reformation churches seem to be quite real. It is equally clear that in other areas at least a good deal of the discord results from seriously and we must admit sometimes deliberately misinterpreting each other's statements of belil~f.

The subject of "justification" is a good example of this latter type of misunderstanding.

Daily RE!adings Aug. I:Jer 28:1-17; Ps 119:29,43,79-80,95,102; Mt 14:13-21 Aug. 2: Jer 30:1-2,1215,18-22; Ps 102:16-23,29; Mt 14:22-36 .

Aug. 3: Jer 31:1-7; (Ps) Jer 31:10-13; Mt 15:21-28 Aug. 4: Jer 31:31-34; Ps 51:12-15,18-19; Mt 16:13-23 Aug. 5: Na 2:1,3,3:1-3,6-7; (Ps) Dt 32:3!i-36,39,41; Mt 16:24-28 Aug. 6: Dn 7:9-10,13-14; Ps 97:1-2,5-6,9; 2Pt 1:1619; Mk ~:2-10 Aug. 7: 1 Kgs 19:4-8; Ps 34:2-9; Eph 4:30-5:2; In 6:41-51

'··Paul·,rl·Awatd'

THE ANCHOR -

Diocese of Fall River -

Fri., July 29, 1994

5

goes to couple

By FATHER JOHN DIETZEN We have attacked the Lutherans, and they us, on this subject for 400 years. A major achievement of recent Lutheran-Catholic dialogue is simply that we have begun to listen to each other carefully.

When one says, "that's not what we believe," we explore various ways of expressing our own beliefs, attempting to discover a formula of doctrine that both can agree upon.

Sometimes that effort succeeds, sometimes it doesn't. But it's a whole different, and much more Christlike, way of dealing with our differences.

The subject of justification is a good illustration. 'Great progress has occurred in recent years in uncovering areas of basic agreement lying beneath'the long-standing divisions.

The Catholic-Lutheran dialogue group in the Uniled States, for example, issued a major statement on justification in 1983 titled"J ustification by Faith."

Two years later Pope John Paul praised it as an impressive example of fruitful discussion which should be imitated and will be helpful on the international level.

Just a final word on your concern about presumption. If you cannot accept the statement that we are saved without personal merit, how do you explain Paul's insistence that "salvation is not your own doing, it is God's gift; neither is it a reward for anything you have accomplished .... We are truly his handiwork" (Ephesians 2). Passages like this abound in the New Testament.

Surely we must have faith and respond to God's call with good deeds appropriate to the status he bestows on us. But the whole package is still his unmerited, unconditional gift.

The problem, if it is one, is that we are dealing with two aspects of the divine mYs~'ery here, God''S totally free and unmerited grace, and our free resp nse to that~race.

We should indeed do our est to weave them together. But, as in other areas of faith., we cannot attempt to explain one mystery by destroying another.

A free brochure on questions Catholics ask about cremation and other funeral regulations and customs is availa~le by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Father Dietzen, Holy Trinity Church, 704 N. Main St., Bloomington, III. 61701. Questions for this column should be sent to Father Dietzen at the same a(Jdress.

Never Lost "Happy times and bygone days are never 10st.. .1n truth, they grow more wonderful within the heart that keeps them." - Kay Andrew

ERIE, Pa. (CNS) - Jim and Shelley Douglass are the 1994 recipients of Pax Christi USA's Pope Paul VI Teacher of Peace Award.

They have written numerous books including "The Nonviolent God Is With Us," Pax Christi's 1992 Advent reflection book. Jim Douglass received Pax Christi's 1992 book award for "The Nonviolent Coming of God." The Douglasses were founding members of the Ground Zero Community in Washington state,living in a small house on the edge of the railroad tracks over which trains carry nuclear weapons to the nearby Trident base.

In Birmingham, Ala., they again live by the tracks and continue publicizing shipments of nuclear materials on the railroad.

Jim Douglass has made pilgrimages to the war-ravaged cities of the former Yugoslavia.

In Rome, he maintained a public vigil and fast in an attempt to encourage Pope John Paul II to make a peace pilgrimage to Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

TO RECEIVE A BEAUTIFUL FULL COWRPRAYER CARD AND MEDAL OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Eastern Television Sales And Service

Fall River's Largest Display of TVs

SEND A CASH DONATION TO: THOMAS SCHIFANO 28 SIPPICAN ROAD WAREHAM, MA 02571

RCA - ZENITH - SYLVANIA 1196 BEDFORD STREET

673-9721

FRANCISCAN FRIARS MASS AND DEVOTIONS to

ST. PEREGRINE FOR CANCER VICTIMS AND THEIR LOVED ONES . Every Thursday • 9:30 A.M. ST. LOUIS CHURCH 420 Bradford Avenue • Fall River

A hospital is the last place kids should be treated like adults.

When it comes to health care, children have very special needs. At Saint Anne's Hospital. we give kids the kind oflove and attention they deserve. We know that a hospital can be a scary place for a child, so we do

family member can provide.

Saint Anne's Hospital is working to keep the children of our community healthy in other ways, too. Take our pediatric specialty clinics, for example.

everything we possibly can to make

With a physician's referral,

our pediatric unit a happy and

children can be seen by some

comfortable setting.

of the finest pediatricians in

That means that our

New England.

pediatric unit is much more than just a scale,d-down

And when children

version of an adult unit.

come to our Emergency

It's a unique place that

Department or Day

has been designed

Surgery Center, our

- from the floor up -

nurses are always there

especially for kids.

to give them a hand to hold or a shoulder to cry on.

With all the

We're proud of the exceptional job our nurses

bright colors, toys, funny

do to make a hospital visit as pleasant as possible for children.

posters and smiling faces, it's easy for children to forget they're in a hospital. And since we encourage a

Of course, we hope your child never needs to be

parent or grandparent to stay overnight, kids receive the

hospitalized. But ifhe or she ever does, remember that our

lID Saint Annes

pediatrics department offers the very latest care.

•

Hospital

Caring for our community.

795 Middle Street, Fall River. MA 02721

special care that only a

At Saint Anne's Hospital, we're dedicated to treating children with the tender. loving care they deserve.

. ' .. ~ I', ..... '\.' ., ..... '. . .

6' TH'E' ANCHOR ..:-. Dioces'e'of Fall River-- Fri., July 29, 1994

'\o.~""('i,\"-~~~\f/\~"\-;:"~""4-"/l_I),J' f.~~/~<\.~,.'': :

"

1\-, - .

,

. "

W'hen tough love i~ needed

A friend I'll call Maureen finafl y Her answer was simple. She's has acknowledged that he,r 20- afraid to throw him out of the house because he has threatened year-old son is a drug addict.

In the space of a year he had suicide if he's put back on the frequently left home, not letting streets. his family know where he was, Maureen thinks that all she has sometimes for months on end. He to do is change her attitude, that had gotten in with a rough crowd her son will then "snap out of his and had encounters with the law. problem," get ajob and seek some Now he is back home and doing professional help. . great - in his mind, that is.

I suggested that maybe she's in 'My friend Pam is grapping with denial, that' the problem needs a different kind' of problem. Just immediate drastic action. ' diagnosed with terminallung cancer, I believe she should get her son she clearly needed a ,distraction out of the house and into a solid . medical recovery program. from the bad news.

By coincidence I had· invited , Maureen wrote off everything I · Maureen and Pam to meet me for' .' said with a bright smile. She was' lunch' one afternoon. They had convinced that if she changed her never met. negative attitude, she could then At lunch Maureen explained deal with her son's problems. that her son's girlfriend had recently That's New Age pop psycholmoved in. Maureen said her son ogy, and it does nothing more than sleeps as late ~s he pleases, has his temporarily coat the surface of friend come over, and has full use pain. The attempt to avoid pain of the refrigerator and teievision. will always fail. There's no way of She said her husband, the son's transcending it unless we first go stepfather,. is running out or' through it. · patience, if not m o n e y . N ot long before· I met with Maureen and Pam, I had read an Why is she.allowing herselfto.be manipl,llated this way, 'and why introduction to a book on St. 'can't she see that she is enabling Francis of Assisi by John Farina, her son to stay hooked. to his published by Crossroad. · disease? '~Life does include a large dose

., By ANTOINETTE BOSCO

of s.uffering," Farina wrote. "We. can flee it or embrace it, but it will come and find us wherever we hide, and then it will test our mettle."

After lunch, Pam and I walked back'to my office. She looked at me, smiled and said, "So all I need is an attitude change?"

We laughed, with tears 'in our eyes, and I remembered the rest of Farina's words about situations not getting ·better.. "Where do we ,tur.n when confronted by them?" he asked. , "We can turn to the externals," Farina suggested, "to our comforts and our conveniences, to the superficialities of our lives, or we can tur'n to our depths."· That's where the real healing on the level of soul -and some:times even body -begins. That's far different from counting on a "attitude change" to take care of pain,

Taking care of little thing~s TRANSCRIBING THE GOOD NEWS: Monette Benoit demonstrates court reporting equipment she uses to project the words of the Mass at St. Francis di Paola Church in San Antonio. (CNS photo)

P'arish finds new means of communicating the Word

Secret to a Lasting Marriage,

to pull and flatten my socks on

By

.~

~~;g~;'~~~~~~~~~ ;~1~:;~~;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:::RIS f~[j

them into the clothes hamper(much sock balls. On the other hand, it as the closure of screened doors. less the washing machine). doesn't hurt to pay attention to the 'My wife kids me about be<:omOr, as I would translate: Close 3-by-6 (feet, not inches) placard ing a "screening meemee" and tells the screen door all the way. Do not she installed over our washing friends I keep fly swatters strapped leave a 3-inch gap to encourage machine: to my sides in holsters. Not true. instant invasion bya squadron of "Sock wads do not wash well.

They are old knife sheaths, not B-52 flies accompanied'by 4 zillion Sock wads do not dry well. ,Sock holsters.

SAN ANTONIO (CNS) -For those who speak English asa second the deaf and hearing impaired, language," she told Today's Cath- . moths, flying ants and 'an occa- wads store grit. De-wad early and Still, she does her best to humor Mass attendance can be an empty olic, the San Antonio archdioce.- sional bat. often -·over a garbage receptacle me on this score and doublechecks .

Being considerate of one's before depositing into a hamper. ·to be sure screen doors close. experience. san newspaper.

Participation remairis possible' The system even helps those spouse'spsycho·buttons provides De-waddingshouldbedonebythe Just yesterday, for example, I noticed our patio screen door open but often limited due to an in'ahil- who hear well, she said, because "if: OPportl;lnities to show frequent lit-person whose foot is responsible." ity to hear the sermon or prayers you hear what is s'p()Ren and read . tie bits of affection. .

It's not a bad little ditty if you at least an inch, maybe an inch and ofthe faithful. Some deaf o'r hard- it on the screen, you haYe a 50 Take sock wads, for example. mumble it to the tune of "Camp- a half. "M ust have been one of the of-hearing Catholics infnistration percent higher retention rate."

'Never bothered me.·Never will. town Races" and substitute "de-boys," she observed. , may stop goingto church entirely: Ms.' Benoit acknowledged that However, for my wife they an: fingwad" for "doo-dah."

Funny. I hadn't seen either one But a San Antoni() parish, St. her first few,. weeks were "a bit, . ernailson the chalkboard.

I am not nearly as explosive since they left to visit the grE\ndFrancis di Paola, has adopted a humbling.," She spent hours adding So I do my very best to remember about my little idiosyncrasies; such parents. two~partsolutiontotheprob~m. . '~hurch words" t~lhed~tionari ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

·A·.·b·o'ut·.· .h· elp.e n,.g'.'gra'ndc·,h···.eldre·n

To, acc·ommodate. thos.e· who' on her computer; such names as · : know sign language, the director Melchizedek; Sadducees and Pha". of the Knights of Columbus Deaf risees were noipart of its usual ': Community Program and two assist- vocab~lary.But she still found Dear Mary: We have a situation ·':ants translate the' I I :15,·a.m. Sun- that weirds·would.come upduiing .' that'is tearing our family apart',It 'day Mass into sign language. . theliturgy that were unfamiliar to ·has ~odo.with the way our grandHowever, a signed translation the computer. Thus, it sometimt;:s' children are being brought up. :often is aslimmary and uses .in-· translated'.things incorrectly.

Our oldest son and daughter-incomplete sentences, and 'in'any F~r ·someo.neused, to . typing law have children ages ~, and, 6 words share the same sign, some- with 99 percent accuracy, havi.ngmonths. They are'alniost neurotic ·times making a translation 'vague. such phrases as "Greece is a pagan . in their concern for theirchildren's · Moreover, many, especially ,thoRe' . country" comeoutas "grease is a . health. They are constimtIy asking who lose their hearing la:terin life, pay again country" could be dis- the 3-year~0Id if'she has a sore , ." throat, ear, etc. Naturally she says never develop the ability' to .under- 'concerting. 'stand sign language.,' ' , , ' , . ijut· Ms:Benoit, remained un- . ,. ,yes, and out-comes the medicine. . That's where Monette Benoit daunted, andpractice'broughtherThis child gets too much atten'comes in with the secoll((part of' . accuracy back !lP to par. Besidestionand is starting to get bratty. · th.escilution.. . ' . :. . . . ' . .that, the congregation doesn't mind . Her attention span' is zerQ. She ," Ms. BenOlt,..a former ~aralegal 'a bit o( unexpected humor now uses emotional blackmail to get . lind court' reporter Wh?IS now a' andJhenand'appreciatesherwork;what she wants. Both pa'rents are professor at San A~tomo ColIegl), .. Except' for a church in' Chicago nervous wrecks. ,.' ..... recently began'h~!pl!1gat the 11:}5. tharreportedly provide's a similar '. The other son and his wife are · Mass ~s weIl, ,bnngmg here<IUlp- service, Ms. Benoit knows of. no the' opposite. They live: in fantasyeither on-going effoit such~s·hers.larid. Everything is always fine. ment to church weekly. . .' Usi.!1g her court reporting skills, "'1 here are court reporters who The mother works and the child'she types the words of the priest have the 'same skills I .have and ren, ages ..: and'6 months, have' and otherspeak.e~s intQ her steno- who are wiIli!1g to do this, but they had at least seven different baby type phonetically. The machine can't get the' money to buy the sUters, moved three times in four then translates t!te phol1~tictypc equipment," she said. Most of her' years. into actual words and pl.aces them ge'ar she has purchase~ herself.'

My husband keeps telling me to 'on a large screen in three seconds. . She pointed out that the Ameri-' stay out of it. My daughter-in-law "This gives u's the ability to . cans with Disabilities Act requires' hardly speaks to me. I know ~he share the spoken word with the that society accommodate the needs a'dults can make choices, but the deaf, the hard of heari~g, and 'of disabled persons. ' children c.an't., Please help..

You sound like a perceptive, commonsense grandmother in a situation where grandmotherly common sense does not carry much weight. . Both you and your husb~nd are . right. You are 'right in recognizing that these children need help now.

And your husband is right in say·ing youstiould keep 9uiet. .

If you really,want to help, your first very difficult task isto accept each ofthe families. Your worriers will continue-to worry. Your fan. tasylanderswili remain there. They' will not change because you point. out their errOrS.' Equally important, you need to establish a good rellitionship with your children and grandchildren.

Improving your relatioilshipwill nO,t only enable you to better help them but will also make for more loving family relationships. in' .' general.

To start, begin to look for the positive aspects in each family.

Your worriers are concerned, trying hard to be good parents. Your fantasylanders are overworked in

By Dr.Jt\ME~&

MARY· KENNY their efforts to make their farrlily succeed. Both want to' 'be gc'od . parents. . If you really want to help, offer service; not words. Apparently the. grandchildren could benefit from contact' with loving grandparents.

You might offer t6 cine .for ~he colicky baby on a regular basis ea.ch week. You might take th~ 4and 3-year-olds on weekly Olltings, either alone or .together. . Of course caring for young children is strenuous for grand moms.

On the other hand, the parents are your children, the little ones are your grandchildren and the fan::ilies need help. To whom can they turn if not to you?

Let your children know that you love them by offering to help the:n in positive ways.

Unusu=ll planting planned tonight on Washington Mall WASHINGTON (CNS) About the only thing outnumbering the 20,000 teen-agers expected in Washington for a youth conference are the 200,000 signed "covenant cards" promising chastity until marriage to be planted tonight in the lawn on the Mall.

The teens, and th(: cards, were to be a highlight of DC! LA '94, billed as a youth evangelism superconference sponsoH:d by Youth for Christl USA. The Washington event July 27-31 was to be followed up with a twin conference Aug. 17-21 near Los Angeles in Anaheim.

A thousand volunteers planned to plant the placards on the Mall lawn July 29 and a rally that night to proclaim teen chastity will be aided by contemporary Christian artists Petra, Steven Curtis Chapman, and DeGarmo and Key. '" think we continue to influence thousands of kids" from the 13,000 who went on the first such convention three years ago in Washington, said Geoff Cragg, the CEO for DC I LA '94. From the twin 1994 confen:nces, he added at a press conference in Washington, '" think we'n: going to see a phenomenal result."

The cards sign'ed by teens are part of the "True Love Waits" teen chastity program, started last year by the Southern !Baptist Convention to counter the common adult belief that teens can't control themselves sexually. The National Federation for C:atholic Youth Ministry is one of 26 Christian organizations participating.

Two Washington-area teens who signed the cards, 18-year-old Lisa Fox and 13-year-old Annie Joyce, said they know people who have had sex before marriage with disastrous results. '" hcive a relative who had sex outside of marriage, she got pregnant, and she got married several years younger than I am," Miss Fox said.

"At my high school, a whole lot of guys and girls will use each other," she a.dded. "All they find is rejection and hurt. Some of them find they have sicknesses and illnesses.... Som(: of them find they have pregnancies."

"I have a friend who just had sex and it really scared her," Miss Joyce said. "She feels that God has left her."

Both teens stressed that young people who have lost their virginity can still sign the covenant cards and pledge chastity until marriage.

"It's not just for virgins," Miss Fox said. Signing, she added, helps a sexually active teen "to be forgiven by God for the mistakes that you've made."

As for herself, Miss Joyce said, "I think my husband will be happy that I saved my body for him. The Bible says wait for marriage because it'll be more special then."

Asked after the press conference

July 31 1865, Rev. Daniel Hearne, Pastor, S1. Mary, Taunton Aug. 5 1917, Rev. Martin J. Fox, Founder, St. Paul, Taunton 1934, Rev. Thomas A. Kelly, Pastor, SS. Peter and Paul, Fall River

THE ANCHOR -

ROME (CNS) - U.S. actress Whoopi Goldberg and Italian Sister Maria Tiziana Ciorciari have two things in common: both wear nun's clothing and like to sing.

Ms. Goldberg plays a nun and sings in the movieS and Sister Tiziana, as she is called, is a singing nun in real life.

The 50-year-old Italian nun also rolls in the grass with her students and dances on chairs to make a point in c.Iass. These are some of the reasons she was chosen "Sister Sympathy" of the Rome area.

The contest was held to promote Ms. Goldberg's film, "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit," in which she plays a hip, wisecracking nightclub singer disguised as a nun.

Several thousand ballots were handed out in March at Catholic schools, movie theaters and record shops. Students were asked to vote and give a reason for their choice.

Sister Tiziana won with 500 votes. Among the reasons were: - "She is a true and proper screwball. She rolls in the grass, jumps on chairs and tells funny stories." , - "She plays soccer and volleyball."

- "She enjoys herself, always a little girL" The victory m,ade Sister Tiziana an overnight celebrity when the election results were announced.

She smiled while answering questions on television. Newspaper readers found photos of her, guitar resting across her lap, filling the inside pages of Rome dailies.

Sister Tiziana is a member of the Daughters of Our Lady of Mount Calvary and teaches music in two of the Italian-based order's grade schools in Rome.

Acting lively and playing the flute and guitar in class aid communication, she said.

"I know how to be severe and rigid, but not all the young people can digest the history of music. So I look to lighten up the lessons," she said.

"I dance On the chairs," she added.

"I am about to turn 51, but age for me means nothing. The more time passes, the younger I feel," she said.

Sister Tiziana said she does not see too much similarity between herself and the character played by Ms. Goldberg, "except for the fact that music fOf us is an instrument of communication and a tie of love to children."

Musicalso helps children "forget their sadness," she said.

"You have no ide~ of the things they tell me: 'Do you know, teacher, that Mo~my and Daddy no longer love each other?' 'Do you know, teacher, that today my father's mistress will come and pick me up?"; she said.

Fri., July 29, 1994

OUR LADY'S RELIGIOUS STORE

"New Engl.1nd hospitality with a European Flair'

about the level of Catholic participation in DCI LA '94, Cragg said he could not hazard,a guess. Youths from about 30denominations were to take part.

"We have just begun connecting with Paul Lauer on the L.A. side of the ledger," where 5,000 of 7,000 available spots for participants are already taken, Cragg said. Laurer is editor of a Catholic youth-oriented magazine called You! in Los Angeles.

"True screwball" is real singing nun

Diocese of Fall River -

Man. ' Sat, 10:00 . 5:30 PM.

GIFTS CARDS

Bed & Breakfast 495 West Falmouth Highway (Route 28A) PO Box 895 West Fa/mouth, Ma 02574 Open year round (508) 540-7232

BOOKS 673-4262 936 So. Main St..

Fall River

,.JA LYNN B. FORCE

Citizens-Union Home Equity Loan

Hospital institutes employee recognition

GET IT!

Beginning a program to recognize "employees who do their job so well and with such a positive attitude that the hospital and community should know about them," Saint Anne's Hospital, Fall River, has named as its first "Employee ofthe Quarter" Lynn Force, health unit coordinator at the day surgery center.

Ms. Force, a Tiverton, RI, resi-' dent, has been a Saint Anne's Hospital employee for over seven years, during which time she was promoted from ward secretary in the surgical intensive care unit to her present position in the day surgery center. She is described by her co-workers as cheerful, positive, independent and a pleasure to work with. "It's not uncommon to see Lynn holding patients' hands and comforting them," says coworker Patricia Dobek.

"I feel honored, but there are many people more deserving of this award," Ms. Force commented. "Saint Anne's is a place I would encourage anyone to work for. ..1 believe in the Catholic mission of Saint Anne's."

A eucharistic minister, Ms. Force is an active parishioner at SS. Peter and Paul, Fall River. She and her husband, John, have two children and a grandson.

Ms. Force and future Employees of the Quarter will receive a $100 savings bond, reserved' parking in their name for the quarter, a departmental award presentation, and eligibility for the Employee of the Year award. All of the honorees' names will be inscribed on an Employee of the Quarter plaque.

You get No fees You get No points You get 24 hour approval Call the Homeowners Loan Phone 508-675-4415 Ask for Connie, Pat or Darlene.

CITIZENS~UNlON It's the Best.

S,.\\W:;SMNK

Member FDiC/DiF

Gl ..........

LE NOE R

WHITE'S OF WESTPORT

'7i!~~~e~ Jet. 1-195 & Rte. 24 • Rte. 6, Westport, Massachusetts Cal/ today at (508) 675-7185· Mass .. tal/free 1 (800) 696-7185

PRISCIUA RESTAURANT

CONFERENCE & BANQUET FACILITIES

Family-style dining at its bestt • Luncheons & Dinners served daily • Children's Menu available • Weekend entertainment

Serving you proudly for 35 yearsl • Accommodations up to 1.800 • Seven beautiful function rooms • G~oup tour__ Dinner theatre

Special Amenities: • 134 ROODlB • Free Continental Breakfast • Free Local Phone CaDs • Free Cable TV • Fitness Center Hotel Direct: (508) 675-8500

,

"

7

8

T.RE A~CijO~.'7f:J?i0c~s~,~(.~~).J>RJver··~~+FH·,,~.j.~(Y>~~r\·I~~\~~:<

... ,~':-»>'

····::··~His··liter:~fry:~;ag:eilf~,re~fle·cts::;(j'ii;b; ei:;·:···:· 1:;':;:';::;"';'"

association with Thomas Merton PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (CNS) - Literary agent Naomi Burton Stone recalls her first thought when she heard that a promising young author had entered a Trappist monastery and vowed to live in silence.

"I was stunned and furious. What a waste! My God, he will never write another book, I thought," said Ms. Stone in an interview with The Church World, the diocesan newspaper of Portland, Maine..

But Father Thomas Merton proved her wrong. He became the most widely read Christian commentator on theology, the contemplative life and social causes.

Ms. Stone, now 82 and living in a retirement community in Portsmouth, is credited with having discovered Father Merton, author of "The Seven Storey Mountain" and several other books that wielded a tremendous influence on Catholics in the post-World War II era.

Barely a year after Ms. Stone arrived in New York from England and settled in as a reader and literary agent at Curtis Brown on Madison Avenue, a blond young man with a faintly English accent . dropped off a manuscript and asked if it was worthy of publication. He was teaching at St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure, NY, at the time.

"After reading the manuscript of his novel, 'The Labyrinth,' I told Tom Merton that I thought the book was commercially risky," Ms. Stone recalls. "But I did think he was a promising writer. And-I topk him to lunch at the Roosevelt Hotel in the next block - not the elegant dining room where an agent generally takes a celebrated author.

And I did encourage him to continue writing. I didn't know at the time that he was a Catholic, and that he was thinking of becoming a monk."

THOMAS MERTON

When he entered Gethsemani Abbey in Trappist, Kentucky, on Dec. 10, 1941, Merton asked a' friend to tell Ms. Ston·e. She didn't hear from him again until 1947, when a manuscript from a Trappist priest named Father Louis arrived on her desk.

When she realized that Father Louis was the religious name of Father Thomas Merton, her interest was immediately sparked. And as she read the manuscript of "The Seven Storey Mountain" - Fa.ther Merton's story of his conversion and newfound life - she was convinced it was marketable.

She contacted Bob Giroux, a friend of Father Merton's who was then a junior editor at Harcourt Brace publishing house and later became a partner at Farrar, Straus and Giroux. "Harcourt Brace immediately offered to buy the manuscript - ' and I found myself working out il contract with Father Abbot of the monastery at Gethsemani," Ms. Stone recalls.

In 1948, Harcourt Brace published about 5,000 copies in the first printing, which quickly sold out. "It just took off in a way that startled everybody," Ms. Stone remembers.

Harcourt Brace printed and reprinted it until more than I million copies were sold in the United States alone. "It was amazing," said Ms. Stone. "And it became a real moneymaker for Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky which until then had been relying on the sale of its cheeses to support the monastery."

In 1949, Ms. Stone received the manuscript for Father Merton's next book, "Seeds of Contemplation." Thirty-four other manuscripts followed over the next two decades.

When Ms. Stone visited Father Merton at the monastery, where

he was permitted to live in a hermitage so he could write wi.thout distractions, they would tak,~ long walks on the monastery grounds.

"As a non-Catholic, it a:lways touched me w.hen I heard the: bells intoning the Angelus - and Tom would bow his head and pray."

But he had a fault which caused Ms. Stone considerable grieJ as a literary agent. When fans - especially men and women religious asked him for segments of his manuscript, or whole chapters, he could never refuse them. That caused major problems with publishers and copyright restrictions.

"Once I received a call from a publisher in France who want,ed to work out a contract with Tor.:t for the publication of a manus,:ript which - unknown to the caller -had already been publist..ed," Ms. Stone said. The publisher had received it from a French nun.

"Apparently, Tom had given the manuscript to the nuns," -she said. "I rushed down to Kentlicky and read the riot act to him! I used to get so cross with him. He was like a child - and I was like: an older sister to him. Something like Lucy and Charlie Brown in 'Peanuts,''' .

Father Merton died Dec. 10, 1968, in a freak accident in Bangkok, Thailand, where he was attending a meeting of Asian Benedictine and Cistercian monks and nuns. Before his trip, he asked the abbot to call Ms. Stone himself if anything were to happen to Fat.her Merton.

"It was almost as if he anticipated that he would not return alive," Ms. Stone said. "He had been such a champion for pea,:e, and opposed to war. It is ironic that his body was returned from the Far East on a military plane alongside the bodies of American Gis who were killed in Vietnam."

Only 30 percent favors abortion in health plan

NAOMI BURTON STONE

eNS photo

2 million rosaries going to Russia ALBANY, N.Y. (CNS) - The Family Rosary's'Rosaries for Russia, campaign has surpassed its goal of collecting 2 million rosaries with 2.16 million donated as of early July.

M ore than i,9 million of the rosaries have already been sent to republics from the former Soviet Union, as well as to Croatia, the Philippines, India, and Uganda.

They are distributed through relief agencies based in the United States and Europe and religious congregations, including Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity.

Holy Cross Father Patrick Peyton began the Rosaries for Russia campaign in October 1991, eight months before his death, with a . goal of collecting I rpillion rosaries. The goal was met in December 1992 and was doubled to 2 million rosaries at that time.

Holy Cross Father Robert Brennan, national director of the Family Rosary, said in a statement that the campaign helped to fill "the growing spiritual hunger that exists throughout the world."

Rosaries are still being collected and shipments will continue.

Heads evangelizers HOUSTON (CNS) - John Simon, business administrator of a Chicago parish for the past six years, is the new executive director of the National Council for Catholic Evangelization. He will head the organization's national office in Houston. He spent six years teaching and 25 years in fundraising, management and lobbying before entering the field of church business administration.

WASHINGTON(CNS)-Only . a minority - 30 percent - . of Americans favors inclusion of abortion in a national health care plan, according to a survey by the University of Cincinnati.

The survey also determined that only 14 percent of the public would favor including abortion if it takes additional taxes or premiums to fund· it.

Derived from a January poll, the results appeared May 18 in the Journal of the American Medical Association in an article that also discussed other polls on Americans' health care reform preferences. The University of Cincinnati poll questioned the views of 1,284 persons.

A bipartisan group of House of Representatives members May 26 referred to the university's survey and emphasized that Americans oppose using tax funds for "child killing" through abortion.

Gauging"Americans' willingness to include various benefits in a national health plan," the poll listed the "percent who thi!lk [a specific) benefit should be included even if additional taxes/ premiums would be required," Of ~the 23 possible benefits listed, abortion ranked 21 st, with only 14 percent of respondents willing to pay extra for it -in a national. health plan.

If no additional taxes or premiums were required, 16 percent opted

to include abortion. But 69 percent of those polled responded: "Do not include" abortion at all.

Some I to 2 percent of respondents had no opinion, the results showed.

The most popular benefit, "wellchild care and immunizations," drew backing from 54 percent of the public, even with the additional cost, according to the poll.

The JAMA article, "The American Public and the Critical Choices for Health System Reform," cited the University of Cincinnati data in analyzing the type ofbenefits Americans want included in a national health care plan. (The J AMA authors referred to 24 potential benefits, although the list published with the article numbered 23.) .

According to the article, "the public's desire for more comprehensive coverage is tempered by its concern over the higher price such benefits would carry," Only slim majorities backed even the two most popular of the 23 potential benefits if higher costs were involved, the poll indicated.

They were the well-child benefit, at 54 percent, and "hospitalization for illness, accident, childbirth," at 53 percent. The next-most-popular benefit, prenatal care, drew support from 48 percent, while 43 percent backed coverage of tests such as mammograms and 42 percent

backed coverage of prescriptie'n drugs, if higher costs were involved.

Only infertility treatment, drawingsupport from 12 percent of the respondents, and elective cosmetic surgery, at 4 percent, had less backing than abortion if high,~r costs resulted from their inclusion in coverage.

The poll shows that "one of the least popular 'benefits' was abo::tion," four House members wrole May 26 to their colleagues. "Health care is about healing, not killing," they said in reaction to publicatio::t of the findings.

The JAMA article, by Robert J. Blendon, Mollyann Brodie, Tracey Stelzer Hyams and John M. Be!lson, went beyond the U niversity of Cincinnati data to deal with a total of 44 surveys, from 199~~ through March 1994, polling A mer.. icans' health care views.

"Americans show stronger sup.. port for the requirement that em·· ployers contribute to health premiums for full-time employees 60 percent - than they do for a similar requirement on behalf of part-time or seasonal employees - 31 percent,"· they wrote.

Furthermore, they said, "Americans are less willing to pay for comprehensive benefits for those who are currently uninsured than they are for themselves and their families."

~===========================) What you did in March is aiding Rwanda today

Do you. remember the chilly weekend of March 12 and 13? You went to church and, if yow

were like most of us, dutifully dropped your Catholic Relief Services envelope into the collectiont basket. Be proud of yourself today for what you did last March! Your contribution is su~portin~ efforts to put food Into the mouths of war..shattered Rwandans and to supply farmers WIth seed~ and tools for September planting. Read on.

;lit

"\ ~

)

k

•

• '.

¥

.

1>

•

••

WASHINGTON (CNS) - The numbers of destitute refugees in the southern Rwandan town of Gikongoro rival the numbers massed in the Zairean border town of Goma, where world attention has focused.

Lush crops of fruit and grain are rotting in the fields and orchards while malnourished Rwandans scratch for something to eat in refugee camps.

The whereabouts are known of three of the 2Q-member staff of Rwandan professionals working for Catholic Relief Services prior to the war. The rest are missing, , dead or presumed dead or have met unknown fates .

These are some of the problems facing Chris Hennemeyer, CRS director in Bujumbura, Burundi.

He is trying to piece together a devastated Catholic Relief Services initiative sponsored by the I overseas aid program of American Catholics in neighboring Rwanda.

Development projects in which CRS was a partner with the Rwandan Caritas program were stopped cold, Hennemeyer said in a telephone interview July 18 from the Rwandan capital, Kigali.

Rwanda Caritas "has been decapitated," he said. "Some of our more dynamic church partners are dead or are in parts unknown."

Hennemeyer was in Kigali to "see what remains of our physical assets." The city is in "a horrible mess" without power, running

water or fuel, but there is nothing "profoundly bad" that cannot be fixed in a few months, he said.

A major focus of all relief agencies now is to try to help guarantee the next harvest, Hennemeyer said.

"Everybody wants to get seeds and tools to the farmers in time for planting" this September, he said.

Hennemeyer said the irony is that in some parts of the country there is an abundance of food available in this harvest season, but no way to get it to the people who need it. That is partly because some areas are dangerous to be in, and partly because of political decisions made by the victorious Rwanda Patriotic Front.

CRS is trucking 200 tons of food per week, bought in Burundi, into southern Rwanda, Hennemeyer said - the biggest food relief operation underway in that part of the country.

"Not too bad for a local operation," the CRS official said, adding that CRS is "moving more food into southern Rwanda than anybody else."

Other agencies add 100 tons to that effort, he said.

Hennemeyer said there is nothing nutritionally sophisticated about the relief effort. The idea is to get as mUG~ high protein, high calorie food to as many people as possible.

The shipments supply about 100,000 people, who must search out any supplementary food for themselves, he said.

But there are many more refugees than that in the town and its surroundings.

Hennemeyer said that while the camp in Goma, with an estimated 1million refugees, has gotten most of the world's notice, Gikongoro is overflowing with nearly 880,000 displaced persons. Many of them are worn out, undernourished and physically disabled by constant flight from the war, he said.

Hennemeyer said one psychological effect ofthe bloodshed and massacre of the war in Rwanda has been to leave many people with the feeling "that the church has really failed."

People have the sense that the faith never really took root in the country or, they ask themselves "how could all this, happen?"

But there also is optimism that the nation can be rebuilt.

"People go out of their way to say this was not an ethnic war," he said. While that may be wishful thinking, he said, it indicates a willingness to attempt reconciliation.

Hennemeyer said there is evidence that the split along ethnic lines is not absolute.

He described a dinner he attended with a Rwandan Tutsi colleague at which one of the guests was a Hutu.

The Tutsi had lost his wife and children to Hutu killers.

But he and the Hutu man had been friends from childhood, Hennemeyer said, "and remain so."

J 'j.

t

FROM TOP LEFT, a Rwandan child cries in his sister's arms; a man wounded by mortar fire is aided by friends; Rwandans dip water from a muddy lake despite danger of cholera. (eNS/ Reuters photos)

10

THE ANCHOR- Dioce.se of Fall River-Fri., July 29, 1994

A pai.r of Peaches· Former women's league baseball players reminisce HARPER WOODS, Mich.· (CNS) - Forty-three years after she retired as a professional baseball player, Helen Steffes is still in a league of her own.

Mrs. Steffes, now 70, is the softball coach at St. Peter School in Harper Woods, her suburban De- . troit parish.

And her 1945-51 stint in women's pro baseball has won her newfound fame, thanks to the 1992 Hollywood hit "A League of Their Own" and enshrinement at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Young Helen's· baseball career began in 1932, when she was 8 years old. She was one of seven children.

"My mother was so busy taking care of everybody els.e that my older brother. took care of the younger brother, who then took care of me. So, whatever he did, I was there," she said.

Then a member of Holy Name parish in Detroit, "I learned how to play on the school grounds," Mrs. Steffes said. "And back then, CYO hadn't started yet." Eventually, Helen did play CYO softball for Holy Name for several Yl;ars.

Her love of baseball - and two streetcars - took her to Mack Park, the only Detroit park with organized softball and night ball for girls. When she was 19, her all-girl team went to their version of the World Series.

"The scouts were there and came out and asked us if we had heard of the All-American Girls Baseball League," she told The Michigan Catholic, Detroit's archdiocesan newspaper. "We told them, no, we never heard of it."

"When I got home and told my mom, she told me she wouldn't let me play for them. She said, 'Who would have ever heard of such a thing?' I had a very protective family," Mrs. Steffes said.

"There was no way my mom would let me go to Chicago. I mean, that was where they had [AI] Capone, and all that crime, and people there would just use you."

But when she turned 21, "I went on my own," she said. "I had known two girls who had already gone to play for them, and they said it was jus~ great!"

____

PEACH PITCH: Mary Pratt, a former Rockford Peach, reminisces about her experiences with the All American Girls Professional Baseball League during a luncheon at Saint Anne's Hospital, Fall River.

In 1945, her first year, she was the starting third baseman for the Rockford Peaches, committed to celluloid in "A League of Their Own." Besides her natural playing talent, she credits God for giving her the ability to play so well.

"I've always been a devout Catholic," Mrs. Steffes said. "I went to church when we were on road trips. We'd go to church all the time."

The league's popularity was fun - in 1948 alone 100,000 people came out to see the Peaches - but so was the travel and the money.

"In high school, 1942, I went to work for Briggs Aircraft making airplane parts forthe war. I worked there until 1945, and then I left," Mrs. Steffes said.

"But then I could play baseball, work to do what I did best - and get paid for it! And we had more fun." .

Her career ended in 1951 when she got married.

"I'd had enough by then," Mrs. Steffes said, "The body can only take so much. I had fallen in love, and Donald said to either get married or play ball. I chose Donald."

Another proud moment came Nov. 5, 1988, when her uniform and' number were put on display, and she and other women players were inducted into the Hall of Fame.

i~

~ -l

IN THE SWING of things: Helen Steffes, also a former Rockford Peach, conducts practice for the softball team she co~ches at St. Peter Elementary School in Harper Woods, Mich. (CNSphoto) . . . .... ..... ...... . ... . .:., ... "

' ~

'

"You should have seen us - we were elated," Mrs. Steffes said. So, too, were hundreds of autograph seekers and media.

Mrs. Steffes, a mother of six, was one of 60 women players asked to meet in Skokie, Ill., and be consultants for the movie. "[Director] Penny Marshall was there, and they all acted as if we were the stars!" she said. "They did everything they possibly could for us.

"We were asked to get together and give an idea of how we would go through spring training," she added. The agenda included a 7 a.m. wake-up call, calisthenics, warm-ups, shagging fly balls and batting.

Mrs. Steffes herself still plays once in a while, most recently

against news anchors in Lansing in a charity game to benefit abused women.

She still writes letters to her old teammates, and they have a reunion every two years. The last reunion, in South Bend, Ind., was attended by 410 people. And since the movie, Mrs. Steffes has given more than 20 speeches regarding her involvement in the film.

In many of her talks, addressed to young girls, she stresses that "it's important to play and play well. There are scholarships to be won out there."

Another former Rockford Peach, Mary Pratt, spoke at a recent secretaries' luncheon 'at Saint Anne's Hospital, Fall River. Now East Coast representative for the All American Girls Baseball

League Association, she was a pitcher for the Peaches and the Kenosha Comets from 1943 to 1947.

After playing professional baseball, Ms. Pratt graduated from Boston UI)iversity, Sargent College, where she majored in physical education. She earned a master's degree at Boston State and coached in the Quincy School Department for 42 years before becoming an associate professor at Salem State. She retin:d from teaching in 1986.

Ms. Pratt is a member of the Boston University Hall of Fame, which she will chair in 1995-96.

She was inspired to spea.k about her baseball experiences after the 1988 reunion oUhe All American Girls league in Cooperstown.

MATT PERRY, an original member of the Perry Brothers Or~ chestra and acclaimed piano teacher, now a resident of Our Lady's Haven, celebrated his 90th birthday with a party at the nursing home July 3.

Perry played his first dance date at the age of 13 and joined the Musicians Local No. 214 before he was 20 years old to play with Joseph Kavanaugl:i and Bill Morrisey. He also played many hotels, theaters and silent movie dates with the O'Brien Troubadours of Fall River.

A long-time resident of New Bedford, Perry played with the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra and Clarence Arey at shows in the Olympia Theatre.

The Perry Brothers Orchestra, a OUR LADY'S HAVEN resident Matt Perry, right, and prominent musical presence in the talk show host Stan Lipp collaborate on a tune after a radio greater New Bedford area, enjoyed broadcast from the nursing home. great success during the Big Band era. Originally organized in 1922 under the direction of brother attended by more than 600 people Committees for the four nursing Jackie, the group was comprised including fellow musicians from homes sponsored by the dio,;ese. of six Perry brothers with appear- the Big Band era.

A Mattapoisett resident, Mrs. ances by 10 nephews and a niece.

DeSouza earned her .nursing More recently, Perry was recOver the next 25 years, the group diploma from St. Anne's S,)hool dispersed and reorganized several ognized during a live radio broadof Nursing and a bachelor's degree cast at the Haven by WBSM-AM times before its final reorganizain human services from Lesley 1420 talk show host Stan Lipp, tion in 1947 with the decline of the College. who was answering calls and inbig band era.

Our Lady's Haven has also According to Perry's niece Carole terviewing staff and residents. named two nurses to clinicalc:oorSeveral callers reminisced about Vandal, the brothers kept· their dinator positions. A new approach music stands and sports jackets of the home's origins as the Tabitha to nursing management in longInn, while others were delighted to assorted colors in the basement of term care, the clinical coordinator the family home. When the group find that friends were living in the position involves coordination of home. needed to split up in order to resident care and daily nursing accommodate a number of engageThe phone lines really lit up op~rations on an assigned nursing ments in one day, the men would when Lipp mentioned Perry, as Unit. converge downstairs to determine callers reflected on the wonderful Evelyn McLean, R.N., C, of which jackets each group would entertainment of the big band era Wareham worked previously in wear to which event. and commended the former per- the cardiac unit at Norwood HosPerry's love of music guided his former on his talents as entertainer pital. She received her nursing life. Not onlydid the Perry Broth- and teacher. diploma from Massachusetts Bay ers Orchestra sometimes have up Community College. * * * * to four engagements on the weekJoAnne C Neagus, R.N., C, of ends, but he also gave piano les- . OUR LADY'S HA VEN, Fair- F.airhaven received her nun:ing haven, has named a new assistant sons after school hours and on director of nursing services and dIploma from Truesdale Hospital Saturday' mornings. two new clinical coordinator School of Nursing.

Throughout his successful career, Both women are also restorative positions.

Perry was considered a role model nursing coordinators and serve' on for handicapped youth. Stricken Nancy DeSouza, R.N., C, has Our Lady's Haven's Mission and with polio at age three, he remained been appointed assistant director $afety Committees. mobile using crutches and became of nursing services. She will coorAll three nurses are certified in a renowned figure in the music dinate the daily activities of the gerontological nursing from the world. nursing department, including American Nurses Association. AcPerry was honored .at a 50th assessment, planning, implemen- cording to the association's C'reanniyersary celebration and reuntation and· evaluation of resident dentialing center, gerontological ion at White's of Westport in 1970. care. nurses are concerned with the Art Perry's Orchestra, led by the Mrs. DeSouza also coordinates health needs of older adults, planyoungest Perry brother, provided Case Mix/ Medicare documenta- ning and implementing health care the music for the event which was tion. She is a member of Strategic to meet those needs and evaluating PI?nnin,g and Quality Assurance the effectiveness of such care.

Annual barbecue

Sacred Heart Home, New Bedford, will host its annual all-day barbecue July 27 (raindate July 28). OJ Andy Rivet will provide entertainment. . (', , ..

.. ..

'

I

,': I"

, ",; • I

Linkage of thE~ology, ecology, cosnlology studied at forum WASHINGTON (CNS) Dualism and a sense of religious rootlessness playa part in the ecological crisis, Georgetown University theology department chairman John F. Haught said during a forum exploring the links among theology, ecology and cosmology.

While ecology says "we belong here," cosmology says "we don't belong here" and theology uses Abraham and Israel as examples ofa model "homelessness," Haught said.

He was one of threc~ speakers at Georgetown fora recent Woodstock Center forum, "Ecology, Cosmology, and Theology: Opportunities for a Constructive Trialogue."

Haught discussed ecology, Robert John Russell, director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences in Berkeley, Calif., theology, and Jesuit Father George V. Coyne, director of the Vatican Observatory in Arizona, cosmology.

Father Coyne said he was "not a strict cosmologist," since he "studies the elements within the universe, not the universe itself."

Haught said the ec:ological crisis is due in part to "maldistribution of resources," which in turn leads to economic, political, then gender issues.

Faith in most major religions is seen as being "at its most authentic when it is in the desert wandering.... Religious people feel that if they put down roots, it will be seen as a capitulation t.o naturalism, secularism or neopaganism," Haught said.

But "unless we look at the world as our home, we'l"(: not going to have enough incentive to take care of it," he said.

Haught said dualism "almost divides us from nature."

He e"plained that dualism, in its theological sense, dc:crees that man has two natures, physical and spiritual, and that good and evil are the two mutually antagonistic principles in the universe. In its philosophical sense, dualism says that the world is basically composed of mind' and matter.

But "mind is much more mysteriously mixed up with matter than we imagined," Haught said.

If the universe's creation were compressed to start in 1776, Father Coyne said, then "Earth began at the Great Depre!;sion, hominids first appeared about 10 days ago, Abraham about 40 minutes ago and you and I appeared about 90 seconds ago.

"Statistically spf:aking, we should not be here. I see that as a scientific problem," he cont.inued. But "God is not an answer to questions about the universe. God is an attracting cause for the universe. He is bringing the universe out of itself."

'Russell cited the Second Vatican Council, process theology and liberation theology as being among those religious movements in the second half of the 20th century that have benefited both Catholics and Protestants by widening their theological outlook.

He called physicist and bestselling author St.ephen Hawking a deist for saying "'if the universe has no beginning, then there's nothing left for God to do."

"But," he noted, citing numerous interventions of God in human history," "this God has a lot left to do."

I'.;

oJ

"

•

"

•

f

THE ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River-Fri., July 29, 1994

11

Letters Welcome Letters to the editor are welcomed. All letters should be brief and the editor reserves the right to condense any letters if deemed necessary. All letters must be signed and contain a home or business address.

Charlie's Oil Co., Inc. • Prompt 24 Hour Service • Automatic Deliveries • Call In Deliveries • Budget Terms Available • Free EstImates You Never Had Service Until You Tried Charlie's We're located at. , .

46 Oak Grove Ave., Fall River orcaJl . ..

508-675-7426·674-0709

eNS/Random House photo

PEGGY NOONAN

Political speechwriter talks of return to Catholicism

CHRISTIAN

PRO,L1FER HELPER

ApOSTOLIC

ADVISOR TRUE

~ Walsh

RESTOREJ.!

I

NEW YORK (CNS) - Peggy Noonan, a former speechwriter for President Reagan, who fell away from Catholicism several times, says she's now back for good.

In an interview about her latest book, "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness," she said she went through periods of ignoring the church but never completely lost her faith.

Born in 1950, Ms. Noonan said Catholic children who received the kind of instruction ,the church was giving children in that period "got a harpoon planted' in your heart.

"Later, you might be swimming away and escaping at times, but you are always attached," she said.

"You will be pulled back, and at times some of us are actually swimming back."

"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" consi~ts of three sections designated by the three parts of the title. In the "Life" section, she reports on her experiences after she was divorced and left Washington to take up the life of a writer in New York.

In the "Liberty" section, she writes about the political scene and President Bush's decision to bring her back for some speechwriting assistance when his reelection prospectslooked dim. And she discusses the reasons it did not work out. "There is no great speech without great policy," she writes.

Ms. Noonan told Catholic News Service that she has kept in touch with Reagan an<;l is scheduled to give a speech at tqe Reagan Library this fall, but she has no plans 'to return to speechwriting.

She is now interested in doing her own writing a'nd PBS has signed her on as 'anchor and interviewer for three one-hour programs on values to be broadcast in December or January.

The "Pursuit of Happiness" section of Ms. Noonan's new book relates her return to serious engagement with her faith.

Living on the East Side of Manhattan, she attends St. Thomas More Church, :as did Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Ms. Noonan wrote that when she asked for a place to find spiritual help, a friend recommended St. Thomas More's pastor, Msgr.

George F. Bar4es.

A voracious reader, she found a

religious bookstore, Paraclete, which offered her help in exploring new directions.

"But the most exciting thing was that the Bible started to make sense to me," she wrote. She joined a weekly Bible study group and sponsored a religious education program in her apartment for her 7-year-old son, Willy, and other children. She said the other mothers were generally affluent women, living very much "in the world," but sometimes surprised at how important the religious education of their children had become to them.

Many of~he most serious Christians she, meets, including some in her Bible study group, are Protestants, she said, but noted that she did not find a lot of Catholics like herself.

In her book she reported that political consultant Ed Rollins told her the ",firestorril" over his talk of giving money to black ministers during recent New Jersey elections "sent him back to the Catholic Church."

The church could be helpful, she' said, if it had programs to put seriously inyolved. Catholics in touch with each other. She commented that she sometimes feels they are' like the few Christians furtively seeking each other out in pagan Rome.

Ms. Noonan's writing reflects a life of urban sophistication, but she also expresses skepticism about many of the world's thought patterns. If some people are eager to embrace philosophies of the modern and progressive, "well, I ain't," she said.

An educated career woman and single parent, she nonetheless has no quarrel with the Catholic Church st.ance regarding women.

"I take the church straight," she said. "I am not angry with the church, and I am not resentful."

"When my pope says we are not going to ordain women, I say, fine."

Ms. Noonan also said she agreed with the view ofsexuality expressed in "Humanae Vitae," Pope Paul VI's 1968 encyclical reaffirming church teaching that artificial birth control is morally wrong.

"I am not part of a crusade," she said. "I am just trying to change myself, and be a good influence in the world in which I live."

HOLY

MEDICATOR

ONE

ANTI,ABORTIONIST

Pharmacy

CAREGIVER

LOVING

THOMAS PASTERNAK PIt.,m.cisf

INSTRUCTOR INFALLIBLE

SPE.CIALIST

202 Rock St. Fall River

CHARI LA.ULL THLRA.PHJrlsr

679·1300

The Nallonal Catholic Pharmacists Guild of the United States

__

f

,,-

~

1", L_J

• VIDEO RENTAL PROGRAM • RELIGION TEXTBOOKS FOR CLASSES • AIDS FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION CLASSES • BIBLES

CATHOLIC EDUCATION AND RESOURCE CENTER

.

t

423 HIGHLAND AVENUE. FALL RIVER '

678-2828

OPEN MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. 10 A.M. - 4 P.M.

12

.,., .. A-bout路 kind"words

THE ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River-Fri.,-July 29, 199~

Sacraments: Part Two of Catechism ~

Here are the seven sacraments celebrated by the Catholic Church. They provide the framework for Part 2 of the new "Catechism of the Catholic Church."

CHRISTIAN INITIATION 1. Baptism

2. Confirmation 3. Eucharist

HEALING 4. Penance and reconciliation 5. Anointing of the sick

SERVING COMMUNITY 6. Holy orders 7. Matrimony

C 1994 eNS Graphics

Sacraments central to Christian life WASHINGTON (CNS)-,-"The whole liturgical life of the church revolves around the eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments," says the new "Catechism of the Catholic Church."

"The liturgy is' the memorial of the mystery of salvation," it says.

The catechism was first published in Fr,ench in 1992. The English version, the last to appear in print among the major Western languages, is now available.

Part 2 of the 800-page catechism is titled "The Celebration of the Christian Mystery." It deals with the church's liturgical life and sacraments and is divided into two main sections.

The first section sets the stage by discussing the doctrine of the church regarding all the sacraments, the nature of the liturl~y and the idea of the "sac,ramental economy" - the term theologians use to describe the central place of the paschal mystery in the life of God's people, the church. The second section deals with the seven sacraments individually and with sacramental and popular devotions.

Quoting from documents of the Second Vatican Council, the catechism says, "The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the church is directed; it is also the font from which all her power flows."

While itis at the center of Christian life, the liturgy does not exhaust the church's activity, the catechism says: "It must be preceded by evangelization, faith and conversion. It can then produce its fruits in the lives of the faithful: new life in the Spirit, involvement in the mission of the church and service to her unity."

While Catholics often use "liturgy" almost as a synonym for "Mass," the church's liturgy actually includes the celebrations of all the sacraments and other acts of worship as well, such as the Liturgy of the Hours and funeral rites.

In treatirig the sacraments individually, the catechism breaks them into three groups.

I t begins with a 'chapter on the three sacraments of Christian initiation - baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist. The next chapter deals with the two sacraments of healing - penante, or reconciliation, and the anointing of the sick. A third chapter, "The Sacraments at the Service of Communion," covers holy orders and matrimony.

Common elements in the discussion of each sacrament include its place in the economy of salvation, how the sacrament is celebrated, who is the minister of the sacrament and who can receive it.

The article on penance and reconciliation includes a brief discussion of indulgences. Viaticum is discussed under anointing of the sick. Under matrimony are included thetopics of matrimonial consent, conjugal love and the family as the "domestic clturch."

After the individual treatments of the sacraments, Part 2 concludes with short articles on sacramentals and Christian funerals.

The article on sacramentals focuses especially on blessings, noting that "every baptized person is called to be a 'blessing' and to bless." It also discusses piety and popular devotions "such as the veneration of relics, visits to sanctuaries, pilgrimages, processions, the stations of the cross."

The third article in a summer series on kindness by Father Pierre E. Lachance, OP, superior of the Dominican community at St. Anne's Church, Fall River.

To communicate our kind sentiments; we use kind words. We can also show kindness by a smile or by writing a thank-you note to a friend. And listening is an important part of conversation, so we should bring kindness into that.

There is hardly a power on earth equal to that of kind words. A good example of this was given by General Robert E. Lee, who commanded the Confederate Army during the c:ivil War. His army was suffering defeat and as he rode over the battlefield, a wounded northern soldier lifted up his head and shouted, "Hurrah for the Union!"

He fully expected to be shot, but General Lee dismounted and said, , "I'm sorry that you are so gravely wounded. I hope you will get well soon." , "That spirit broke my heart," the soldier later said, "and I cried myselfto sleep." By his kind words General Lee had turned an enemy into a friend.

A kind word can destroy prejudices, however inveterate. You might have entertained apparently well-founded' prejudices against someone but kind words may have been spoken by that person and your prejudices were vanquished by a power above all logic: the simple power of a few kind words.

Kind words also have an uncanny power to dispel misunderstandings.

You may try to explain them, only to reap renewed misunderstandings. Your only hope may be kind words patiently repeated. They may explain nothing but ~hey do better: they make explanation unneces-

sary, and so avoid the risk which always accompanies explanations, of reopening old sores.

More positively, let us note that kind words have the power of winning people to God. As Bishop Fulton Sheen said, "There are three rules for winning souls: kindness, kindness, and kindness."

That's how the early Christians of Jerusalem won the approval of their neighbors and made converts: they impressed people by their love for one another. (Acts 2:47) Kindness wins converts.

Finally, we should point.out the power of kind words to encourage, build-up self-confidence in people and spread happiness, goodwill ' and peace.

Kind words also bring great rewards. We find happiness on the road of kindness: The happiness we bring to others and our own happiness in making them happy go together.

Kind words make us peaceful, drawing us near God, and increasing our love, thus our peace.

There are, of course, obstacles to practicing kind speech. They include the temptation to wit at' the expense of others, for example, making fun of their foibles.

The French moralist La Bruyere wrote: "It is not ordinary that he who makes people laugh earns their' esteem."

There is also the grace of kind listening in which we sometimes fail. Some listen distractedly and you know their thoughts are not with you; or they seem to listen, but by their answers and irrelevant questions, you know they were occupied with their own thoughts and were not interested in yours.

Still others are bad listeners who keep interrupting you, while you speak.

Others may be kind enough to hear you out, but only to have a chance to get their story in as soon as you have finished. These are not good listeners. A good li:ltener is sincerely interested in what you are saying, and it shows. Kind listenirig is an art worth cultivating!

Special ways of showing kindness include letter writin.g, body language, one's demeanor and a simple smile.

A thank-you note call bring much joy to someone who has done you a kindness, as ca'n a written compliment to someone who has succeeded in a special endeavor at work or school or in the parish or community. Too often, good words seem to go unn.oticed.

What joy when someone kts you know he noticed and compliments you!

Body language can also convey a message of love and kindness.

Sometimes the mere preseli.ce of a kind person releases a sort of perfume that makes people feel good.

Peace', joy and love radiatl~ from such' a person.

One's demeanor also conveys a message. The way you sit 01' stand can make you appear stiff, aloof or bored, as if you are saying, "Don't disturb me!" Or you can appear relaxed, at ease, easily approachable and kind.

Finally, a smile that come!; from the heart says, "I love you. You make me hapy. I'm glad to see you." It radiates kindnes!: and friendly feelings. Father John O'Brien reminds us that "Your smile has work to do for God"; and I found a similar messagt: on a blotter: "O'on't lose your !.mile; others need it!"

.

"

Next week:' Kind actions.

Peter's Pence funds aid papal efforts Pope John Paul II has a unique mission as a spokesperson for peace and freedom. In his numerous pastoral visits throughout the world, he brings comfort and courage to those who struggle against poverty and oppression. .During his 1993 visit to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia-his first visit to countries that were once part of the Soviet Union-Catholic News Service reported that Catholic leaders ,in those countries expressed their hope that he would "stimulate the rebuilding of church structure and help breathe democratic values into societies dominated by communism for 50 years."

His message is one of respect for

human life in all its diversity.

Addressing World Youth Day participants in Denver last summer, he urged all the faithful to "feel the breath ofthe Holy Spirit among so many different races and cultures, all united in acknowledging Christ as the way, the truth, and the life of every human being."

We can offer our support for his mission and message through the annual Peter's Pence Collec:tion for the Works of the Holy Father.

The collection assists in many aspects of .the pope's work; more than 98 路cents of every dollar t;ontributed goes directly to those concerns. Less than 2 cents goc:s to administrative costs. .

Undertakings receiving funding include,diplomatic offices 'in 145 countries of the world, where re.presentatives support papal positions on justice and peace issues; di.laster and war relief initiatives; and maintenance of church administration throughout the world and at the Vatican.

\

I'

~

路A~

,~;

~,~.

POPE JOHN PAUL II's "Urbi et Orbi" messages inspire people throughout the world. As ,,,,.,..l:..

;,,~.~tf:.. '/.

J...

a spokesp~rson for peace, he tirelessly urges leaders of nations to seek solutions for international problems. Catholics can help support him through the Peter's Pence collection.

(CNS/ Arturo Mari photo)

Parish ministry conference topic

YOU CAN ALMOST smell the cookies 90-year-old Sophia M. Nistler is pulling from her oven. All profits from her sales go to charities. (eNS photo)

Cookies raise cash for charities ST. LOUIS (CNS) - Sophia M. Nistler puts cookies and cakes into the oven and takes out a source of money for the poor.

Mrs. Nistler, a 90-year-old widow, bakes cookies, breads and other treats for residents of her apartment building in Florissant, Mo., a St. Louis suburb. Her neighbors and their friends give her money that she donates to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at St. Christopher parish.

Orders for her baked goods excite her, as does the process of donating the money. Discussing sales she had at a craft fair, she added, "I don't want to brag, but I really got rid of them."

Her efforts evolved from a talk at the church by fellow parishioner Joe Volk, seeking donations to help the needy.

"It just impressed me so. Hejust mainly stated that they needed help ... that they really would appreciate it. It just struck me. I thought, 'Well, I'm going to see if I can't bake some stuff for them, and when I get a nice sum, then donate it,''' So she got busy.

On her 90th birthday, the St. Vincentians presented her with a plaque recognizing her good deeds.

Society representatives noted that. in 1993 she raised more than $1 ,000.

"I just got an order now," Mrs. Nistler said gleefully in an interview with the St. Louis Review, archdiocesan newspaper. "One lady bought five dozen cookies yesterday, and when shf: brought the tins back this morning she said her daughter wants five dozen sugar cookies," Last fall, a friend gave her 14 fresh pumpkins that she put to good use.

"I bake 'em, peel 'em, grind them up and I have fresh pumpkin for my pumpkin cakes," she said.

"People really enjoyed them. My heavens, one lady said she wanted 10. 1 was so thrilled I could have given them to her.

"I just keep working and working. But I get such a kick out of it."

In addition to her regular char-

ity work, she held a bake sale last year and raised $276 for the Salvation Army for flooa victims.

Volk once got $100 from Mrs. Nistler and told her he was scrambling for money for three families

whose electricity service was about to be disconnected. The baker decided to hdp out if she was able.

"Of course, the Lord was good to me," she added. "He blessed me so that I could keep going,"

GKC still relevant says priest-editor WASHINGTON (CNS) - He we know of' Chesterton's writwrote of love and war, socialism ings, he said, and pieces are still and capitalism, mystery and God coming to light. and numerous vagaries of life in The Review itself "is really 'sui between. generis,''' or something of its own In the process, Englishman G. K. particular type, its editor said. "It's Chesterton, widely known as G KC, not political ... not ideological," acquired' a legion offans spanning As opposed to Western consuthe globe. merism, it espouses the ideas ChesNow, 120 yearS after its hero's terton and his friends discussed: birth, The Chesterton Review, a the value of small towns, little quarterly journal devoted to "pro- communities, and a moral envirmoting a critical interest in all onment "in which it is easier to be aspects" of Chesterton's life and. good," he explained. "It sounds work, is observing its own 20th moralistic, but it isn't. It's pracbirthday. Founding editor Basil- tical." ian Father Ian Boyd intends to To spark interest in Chesterton mark the occasion with both cele- and his way of. thinking, Father brations and seminars.

'Boyd and others founded the G. K. Father Boyd also hopes to pro- Chesterton Society, which sponmote more awareness of his jour- sors seminars and other programs. nal - published in Canada, far The Chesterton Review is the from Chesterton's English home Society's journal, based at St. - because he thinks Chesterton- Thomas More College, Saskatoon, ian ideas have relevance for a Saskatchewan. world on the brink of the 21st "Chesterton appeals to people century. who have nothing else in common "He finds God everywhere," with each other," Father Boyd Father Boyd said. "We need a little pointed out. Thus, he explained, Chestertonian good cheer. the Review and Chesterton Society "His one theme, really, is the attract everyone from literary presence of God in a world from scholars to those dissecting ecowhich He seems to be absent," the nomic arguments to those from priest added. the "fairlv radical left" to "some Chesterton wrote as a journal- very traditional conservatives." ist, literary critic, poet, commenta"It's exciting because it's ideas," tor on religion, and author of var- he added. ious other works - including deFurther information on the jourtective stories featuring a portly nal and the society is available parish priest - during a long and distinguished career. An Anglican from The Chesterton Review, St. when he wrote some of his earlier Thomas More College, 1437 Colpieces on Chris~ianity, he became lege Drive, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, S7N OW6. a Roman Catholic in 1922.

As such, Che,sterton was "thorTo Walk Safely oughly Catholi,c, but he doesn't "When he has no lusl, no hatred, preach" in his ,writing, Father Boyd a man walks safely among the add~d. "He smuggles, as it were, his religious ideas" into his writing. things of lust and hatred." "The golden surface dust is all B~agavad Gita

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (CNS) - Pastoral ministry today goes far and beyond sacraments and schools, a trend that will continue into the next millennium, Bishop James R. Hoffman of Toledo, Ohio, told a recent national conference on "Ministry in the Year 2000."

Bishop Hoffman was the keynoter at a recent conference at St. John's University School ofTheology in Collegeville. Nearly 200 parish leaders and ministers attended.

"The ministerial seeds for the year 20 10 have already been sown," he said. The last generation has seen "an explosion of lay ministers" that grew out of a "developing notion of church as the people ofGod and as communion with Jesus Christ, and through Christ with each other," the bishop added.

The Second Vatican Council's notion that '''we are church' certainly caught on in the United States." he said.

Bishop Hoffman looked back at a typical parish in 1960, then at that same parish in the 1990s. "In 1960 sacraments were the work of priests, education was the work of religious and the mission of the

parish was simple: to save souls," he said.

But today's ministry is much broader, with lay people filling such roles as Montessori and daycare directors, youth and music ministers, principals and teachers and other parish-related positions, he said.

"Those kinds of developments' are the harbingers as we seek to describe ministry in the years 2000 and 2010," Bishop Hoffman said.

Quoting from a study conducted

by Father Philip Murnion, the bishop said ministry today has four dimensions: it is lay, feminine, local and ministerial.

There are 20,000 lay ministers in the United States, he said, 85 percent of them women.

LEMIEUX'

COLLINS CONSTRUCTION CO., INC.

HEATING, INC. Sales and Service for Domestic and Industrial Oil Bumers

Norris H. Tripp SHEET METAL J. TESER, Prop.

RESIDENTIAL INDUSTRIAL COMMERCIAL 253 Cedar St., New Bedford 993-3222

GENERAL

CON~RS

55 Highland A.,. . .

995-1631

Fall River, MA 02720

2283 ACUSHNET AVENUE, NEW BEDFORD

678·5201

Reliable Fuel Company Mass. 508-676-8585 R.I. 401-624-2907 Offices at 550 Fish Rd., Tiverton

Senior Citizens Discount Heating Oil • Diesel Fuel Gasoline __UI"'---'l1 ..........,......,.....~~ ....

Automatic Delivery Budget Plans D Sales, service &Installation of Oil Heating Systems

Our Lady's Monthly Message From Medjugorje July 25th, 1994 Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina Dear Children: Today, I invite you to decide to give time patiently for prayer. Little children, you cannot say you are min~ and that you experienced conversion through my messages If you are not ready to give time to God every day.

I am close to you and I bless you all. Little children, do not forget that if you do not pray you are not close to me, nor are you close to the Holy Spirit who leads you along the path of holiness. Thank you for having responded to my call.

OUR LADY QUEEN OF PEACE PRAYER GROUP ST. DOMINIC CHURCH. SWANSEA, MA EVERY WEDNESDA Y • 7 P.M.

······..y outb returning···· to Denver, SAN JOSE, Calif. (eNS) young people from the United States and Canada will gather in Denver Aug. 4-7 to mark the first anniversary of World Youth Day '93 with National Youth Day events.

Up to 20,000 people between the ages of 13 and 39 are expected at the four-day festival on the theme, "Youth: It's Our Move!" The gathering was organized by the San Jose-based national group, Youth for Life, one year after Pope John Paul 11 visited Denver for World Youth Day. After opening concert and rally Aug. 4 in Denver's Barnum Park, Natiol1al. Youth Day will feature talks music and' other activ:.ties at the city's McNichols Sports Arena· .Aug.5-7. : .·Speakers.weretoinclude Mother · Teresa; Father Frank Pavone, na. tiomil-director of Priests fOJ Life; Raul Lauer., of YOU! magazine; . lecturer and author Father Ken Ro'berts; former abortion doctor Bern.ard Nathanson; and Dan Lynch, a. judge and lawyer who gave up his practice to promote devotion to Our Lady of Guada" lupe, • ",. . · . "WeJook forward to reuniting · in Dem~er to offer our wholehe:arted . :yes' to our church, to our Holy' F.ather. ;md to the mission set before ,us at·. World Youth Day," said ._ Keyin.Cunningham, director of .. Youth JorLife and one of the . ,National Youth Day coordina.tors. .To register or for more informa- . · " tion, contact National Youth Day, .P:O. Box 612410, San Jose, CA ' ::-95161. Phone: (408) 955-9935 .

..,. Fina~clally strap pled . '" .Catholic schoo:1 'aj~e~ .b.y Don. F.'eder , WATERBURY, Conn: (CNS) It may seem. strange thnt a , GOOD SPORTS: Enjoying, summer fun at Cathedral'Camp, East Freetown,. are day campers 'john McCusker of nationally syndicated Jewish 'colRocheSter, Melissa Del~~d() of Taunton, John Marmelo of Fairl:taven' and Amanda Lawrence of Raynha~. (Br.een photos) umnist from ,Boston was responsible 'for helping save a 90-year..old Cath'oIic school in Waterbury from: financial doom for at least another , .year.

Buqh~t's exactly what happened . AR Ll NGTON ··H fiG HTS~ Ill.' are n~'t di*courag~d: from drink~ halfthe stlldent body'';: signed ~hedriving. ~illiose his or her license (CNs) -'-'Wh<) s~-ys 'high sch'ool ing; insteaci theyar~urged to sign; .·piedge, accordinir to Ms: Quinn... fgrttiree.nionths:·A second offense.;recentlywhencolumnistDon Feder. ~tudentsc~n~t'.tnake' a differ,enc.e in~··. a pledge' pr·omising· thllt if they" .'Priqr:to soliciti:ngthe signature.s ..will CO!!t. the offen.der his' or' her.. spoke. ata-:$.1 OO-a~plate dinner at government?·····.······· . drink while ·at.,apany, 'they wili·· for ·the· pledge~~' th,egrolJpspentlicense for..a ..year. After the tl!ird .. ·St.Joseph Grade. School thatra.ised . Eieven .whoattend St: Viator', . 'call'a parent to .corrie .and pick' . time informing,~tuderitsal?out the . ti~e,theJicense will !?egone until·. $37,000.· . , :.

High Sc~oor.iri).f1ihgton',,!eights· : th'em'up, no matter.the tirne or the" dangers of using ~lc6~ol andotlier : . 'tlje'offender turns 2 1'.:.,.... '. , F:eder: is ali'editorial write(. at . saw theil'.ef(ortspaY· off when;the' . place.,' ",: '.' " . '. .... illegal substarices~ Theyma<kpres-. ·:-The·:-n .. girls who :t.ravcled· ·.to.:; the. '&oston~ Herald and a .syndibi\!' for 'which :'they Had loboie& .' ~We dedd.ed,thatwe wanted to': entatioris ·in·.classroorris,brou.gh~ .·Springfield hadl:!r~akfa~t with.:' .caied coiumriist whose. work ilP~" recently'pass'ed;theJHinois Seriate.. gO with a' zero~alcoh'ol'tolerance '. in ·local·expe~ts:Ji~e·e(nergency~.Rauschenberg~r,who ga~et~ep1 a.' .peaJ.'~ .inttie. Ne~.York post, The o:":a urianirr161l~ v~te, ." :-"., .:'; message," said'Miss'Wa~chot'room nu~ses ancia s,tate'~.att6rney, <)~ick lessoh on.h'owtol.obbY..~'He . Washington Times and 33 .otl~er 'JJut whaHeally makes thestu~ :'~'Just saying; 'Don't drink arid ·and·set.up exhibitsthrougho~tthe' .toldus.to be brief above.all else,': 'daily newspapers across the . <Jents' action~unusualis what they' .' drive!'wasri'tstrongenougti;" said . scho'oI.· .•.... " . ': ...• .' :.... '.:... said 17"ye~r-old ~elissii Biancala~ 'colultrY.:, . lo!?bied·for:to.ugher pe'na!tiesf()r:" 16~year-old Katie Zambreno.·She·. MissZambreno said on'e.o'fthe· na...· . \ . ' . . . 'Prior 'to the event· in an intllrthose under 21. 'who .arecauglit : added tha't the. 40' members who' keys' to. their success ~as reaching .Miss. Zambre~? got: to ~peak ; vie~ with theCiltholic Tra~script, .drinking an~ driving' -.a stand . at(eri~ed the meet.ing had few ob-' ~he ~reshmen.Th~y dId so by host- w~th II senat<?rs. I t~oug~t I~_was. newspape'r of the Hartford archthat did not win them popularity jections to abandoning the SADD Iryg a barbel;ue In early August ~ool thata teenagerhke me could' di'ocese Feder said he would strt:ss contestsattheir ,own school. philosophy and chose the "Lions before school began. ·"lfwe can get ~ake a diffe~~.nc~ ary~ thatthey~d . the imp'oryance of religious educa"We got a lot of commentsfrom . Living Free" name the same day. the mess~ge .to..them t~at you can hsten to ~e, .she sald.~nd, the , tion in shaping children's VaIUI$. people saying we shouldmindo.ur The school's mascot is a lion. have fun WIthout USIng alcohol senators dId ·hsten;'·.unarnmously... . . own business," said Theresa'Wa'rCheryl QuiQn, a moderator for. and·other substances, you can.wiri passing the'bill '6rily two ti,ays'; .' }Ie agree~ th~t some w~uld fmd later. Now the bill will move' on to It Incongruous for a Je":lsh lead,er chol, 17., who graduated this year. the group and the school's librar~ therri for"life," she said.< "But it·· is. my business. if they' ian, said several alcohol-related' Th~ group's ~ost'rece~t project,. the House for' co~sideration and. ~o ~elPI k~ep ba Cad.thoh~b sdCh~IOI choose to drink and drive, for they autolilobiie accidents that res.ulted lobb.yingf~r passage of the' zero- . possible passage:.'. . .. . rform. t c O~Ing dutl feschn Je d leo . 'Id k'll '. f 'f"d"' . f' '. .' '. ...... ,:' . . ' . . '" . e or 'as a mo e 0 t e u e,)c~u lone 0 my nen s. . 'In the deaths 0 young people'dur-: alcohol-tolerance-for-underageButthe heat remaInS on In school. Ch'··· < '.,. r' d 'n d drivers bill, I~dl rof them to the'. EiIeeQManno, aiiofher moderator.. nS~la~ spmt 0 goo wlar,.

Miss Warchol belonged to Lions '. 'iitg the previous.year may have led Living Fre~, t~e school's 2-year- '.' to the grou'p's' redesign. '!The sttilllinois ca'pi~al'of Springfield for jl oftheg~oupanda coimselor atthe '.. cooperatJ(~n. ." old. substance abuse awareness' . dents were greatIy-impacted by the day. to meet. with state seriators t school, said . ~he is often .disap~"Some peopl.e thIn~.1 may be.a group. It bega'n several yea~s ago " deaths oftheirfriel1ds,"~he said. ,and Gov. James Edgar to e.ncour- . pointed at the attitude ;of some . ~losetC~~ohc. ,or, .a . Catholl~ as.a chapter of Students ,Against ,"They felt they had to do' some- . age passage of the bill. They w~re par.ent!! as well.. . .' '.' wann~-be, .:Feder.saId In another' . prunk Drivlng,knownas SAPD, . 'Jhing more:~·:.;· . . . . . .". hosted by state Se.n> Steven RauTh~ adult.popuilltion does not· re.c~nt Ipte~vlew, WIth OurSunda.y but' the. members decided at' the' ~ . The group decided to encoiirage' schenberger, who represents. the see underage drinking as that big' . ~ISltO~ natwnal ~eekly newspaper. beginning of the .1992-93 schogl,·..:their fellow sttidents to sign a . district in which some Viator stu~ of. a deal, she said. "They figure, '. That s not the case at all. I'm an year that they'did not likeSADD's ple<lge duringal¢ohol-awareness. dents live.. .

'Well, we did it, so why shouldo'tobservant Jew. However, as. an basic message.' . , . : :,.week iit October.. 1992. The stu-.

The senate's ver!!iono(the bill '. we let them?'. What they. <lon't observa.rit Je.w,.lsiIpp.ort what .the· '. SADDlidvocatesa do-rtoHlrink~ ... dents ·were·.to promise ncit to con'- says. that anyone under 21 who .. realize is thal 'the ultimate 'impact C.atholic~hurchisdoing on issues' and-drivemotto,accordingtoMi,ss 'sume any'alcoholat all fo'r a year. . gets caught with even a trace of of that line of tltin~ing can be the ·.Iike.abortion, euthan'asia and sexWarchoL In other. words, students'., More than>500 students- over alcohol in· his or her blood while '. loss of Ii 'child -. eveptheir.own:;: .uali~y:~~ . ;'. ' ... .' :, .... ', :'~:'~. ~.~,,;-" . . - . - '.;. " -<.'::'~':"'" ....' ,'-. .... . ."...,.'~' ','" ~ ";'::, . -. ......_~. . . ~.,.. ~ .~.; . . .; .:... .. .....: ...

-

1,"'

• • ' f ' ',; ....

l.

,"

. .'

.::.:

:.;.

•. ,

....,.

:.:/ ....

.'";• •.'....

.

.:.,

...

','

",

'", '.,

,;':. .. ..

." ...~

:

.:;.

"-'.',-.'

:;','

."

"

.....

-,

,.

.'

-\ '\.'

'.

~.

By Charlie Martin

CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE TONIGHT? ) can see what's happening And they don't have a clue They'l fall in love And here's the bottom line Our trio's down to two.

The sweet caress of twilight There's magic everywhere And with all The romantic atmosphere Disaster in the air.

Can you feel the love tonight The peace that evening brings The world for once In perfect harmony With all its living things?

So many things to tell her But how to make her see The truth about my past.

Impossible!

She'd turn away from me.

He's holding back, he's hiding But what, I can't decide Why won't he be ' The king I know he is The king I see inside.

Can you feel the love tonight?

You needn't look too far.

Stealing through The night's uncertainties Love is where they are.

And if he falls in love tonight It can be assumed His carefree days With us are history In short, our pal is doomed.

Written by :Elton John/Tim Rice, sung by Elton John (c) , 1994 by Walt Disney Music Co. (ASCAP) THE SOUNDTRACK for This song's message about "The Lion King" was composed how we can change our world

by Elton John and Tim Rice. stands on its own.

Several of the songs are perIndeed, we all need to ask formed by John, including his ourselves: Do I sense the "peace c.urrent chart hit "Can You Feel that evening brings"? Do I see the Love Tonight?" how our world could go on "in

perfect harmony with all its living things"? Do I "feel the love tonight"?

Perhaps you are wondering what world I speak of. Am I referring to the same planet where so much violence, so much suffering, affects so many people?

Yes, but the challenge I present 'does not discount any of this suffering. Rat.her, my challenge is an invitation to remember that the Creator established our world.

Our challenge is to rediscover God's original intent in creating the world - a world created with love and harmony. "All its living things" were meant to mirror their divine origin to each other.

Admittedly, the challenge that I propose to each of us is difficult. Our fears and memories of times when we were hurt can almost block us from seeing God's intent.

Consequently, to refocus on God's intent for our world we must help each other. We must try harder to support each other when our lives are hurting.

Every day we need to practice Jesus' teaching by treating ourselves and others compassionately. Without'denying the pain that may fill the past, we can help each other "feel the love tonight," the gift of God's healing power present in each day.

Some days, or some even.ings, as the song suggests, when we sit quietly, we can sense the heritage of God's creation.

Each time we focus our attention on love, building peace or on creating harmony with others, we open the door a little more to God's transforming power both for our personal lives and for life on this planet in general.

Sometime today, just for a while, sit in a quiet place. Try to feel yourself in "perfect harmony" with all that God has created.

Your com ments are welcomed

by Charlie Martin, RR 3, Box 182, Rockport, IN 47635.

'y outh rosary on rock radio schedule BALTI MORE (CNS) - A Baltimore radio station best known as" a promoter of hard-core rock 'n' roll will broadcast a youth-oriented rosary in conjunction with a national Marian conference in September.

Officials for WlYY 98 Rock said the 45-minute rosary broadcast will be part of a "The Blessed Virgin Mary Rocks Baltimore with 98 Rock in Preparation for the Pope's Visit" weekend. It will be similar to the station's "Featured Artist Weekends'" in which a particular rock band's music is played in heavier rotation.

"We're just trying to do our part" to prepare for the papal visit to Baltimore Oct. 23, said Ed Kiernan, WIYY'sgeneral manager.

"We hope to do it. in a positive and fun way, and have a real impact."

WIYY is not only donating air time for the Sept.. 17 rosary broadcast, but also donated studio time for teen-agers to'record the rosary and further air time to promote the weekend.

"We are a radio station that reaches out to youth," Kiernan said. "And we were given the opportunity."

The idea was the brainchild of Father Richard Lobert, an organ- '

izer of the National Marian Conference. "I wanted· to do something for the Blessed Virgin," he said. "I have great devotion to her."

Father Lober!.' said he felt that Mary wanted him' to have the event broadcast so that all area youths could take part:. "It is a small token of spirituality that

could be injected into the station that could touch kids at home," he said.

Through prayer, he was guided to ask WIYY for the air time. They obliged and some 40 teen-agers from around the archdiocese have already recorded the rosary in 98 Rocks' studios,

THE ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River-Fri., July 29,1994

By Christopher Carstens I was working in the emergency room on a Saturday night. The seasoned hands call it "the knife and gun club" because of all the wounds people bring in for treatment during those busy weekend hours after 9 p.m.

The ER people wrestle against death every weekend, and success and failure are measured in very specific terms. You win, the person lives. You lose, they die.

The ER staff battles for life because life matters, because each human existence is a precious gift.

Preserving those lives is their vocation.

Sadly, the wounds are often self-inflicted. Caught in the downward emotional spiral of depression, suicide can seem a reasonable option to some people. Usually somebody stops them. Usually they make it to the ER. Usually life wins.

But it is puzzling, startling, even, to run into teenagers who don't seem to think that life matters.

The doctor asked me to see a young man who had cut himself with a kitchen knife. He sat on the ER bed, his mom at his side. On his other side sat the physician, calmly, carefully putting in stitch after stitch to close the dreadful gash in the l5-year-old boy's left wrist.

"Why did you do itT' ") was mad." No more explanation was forthcoming, and he didn't seem to think more was required.

He was mad at his friend, so he cut his own wrist. Yes, he had wanted to die. No, he didn't want to die anymore, at least not now. ,"Do you know that you could have died? What if you were dead now?" ''I'd be dead. Then there'd be no problem."

"But you'd be dead forever." , "So?" ) was in the clinic, listening to an interview with a teenage mother.

Montie Plumbing & Heating Co. Over 35 Years of Satisfied Service Reg. Master Plumber 7023 JOSEPH RAPOSA, JR. 432 JEFFERSON STREET Fall River 675-7496

JEFFREY E. SULLIVAN FUNERAL HOME <.

•

............ ~....

t~e:;=-:::"".,;"~",

FOOT BATH: A tot in Graz, Austria, demonstrates a universal response to a heat wave. (eNS/ Reuters photo)

550 Locust Street Fall River, Mass.

Rose E. Sullivan William J. Sullivan Margaret M. Sullivan

672·2391

15

She was talking about her baby and how she loved caring for her.

She had the usual complaints about her own parents, some troubles with her current boyfriend, but nothing out of the ordinary until the therapist pressed the issue that had brought her to counseling, the fact that she'd knifed three girls in a fight.

"One of them was calling my cousin names and stuff, so ) confronted her. A bunch of her friends jumped in, so I got my knife and started stabbing. I was in juvenile detention for three days till they found out if that one girl lived."

"What if she had died?"

"I'd be charged with a murder."

"How would you feel about having killed her?"

"No special way. She'd be dead, that's all. I'd probably spend some time in prison, but inside or outside it's the same."

The scary thing is that there are so many young people, kids with their entire lives ahead of them, who act like it doesn't really matter. Live or die, so what?

This stuff is all connected. Onefourth of all American pregnancies are now being terminated by abortions. Dr, Kevorkian flies around assisting at suicides. The drive-by shooting has become a commonplace alternative to the drive-in movie as a form of weekend entertainment.

We need to turn this one around.

We must make it clear that life matters. There aren't enough ERs on earth to stitch up the damage if we don't.

Your comments are welcomed

by Dr. Christopher Carstens, c/o Catholic News Service,3211 Fourth St. N.E., Washington, D.C. 20017.

SaJJivan)s Est. 1962

Religious Articles Books • Gifts' Church Supplies 428 Main St. • Hyannis, MAo2601 508-775-4180 Mon.-Sat. 9-5

MARRIAGE PREPARATION AT ITS BEST! (ih'(» :1 (iift

('('r,ifieo'" For :1 "'(·(·k(·ud :1at'oy For Info Contact TIM & BARBARA HAYDEN TEL. 336-4381

ST. MARY, N. ATTLEBORO Adoration of Blessed Sacrament each first Friday following'7 a.m.

Mass until9 a.m. Mass begins. Evening prayer at 9 p.m. Special prayers 8 a.m. first Saturdays. Information: Joan Provost. 699-2430.

PUBLICITY CHAIRMEN are asked to submit news Items for this column to The Anchor, P.O. Box 7, Fall River, 02722. Name of city or town should be Included, as well as full dates of 011 activIties. Please send news of futuro rather than past events.

Due to limited space and also because notices of strictly parish allalrs normally appear In a parlsh~s own bulletin, we l!re forced to limit Items to events of general interest. Also, we do not normally carry notices offundralslng actlv:lties, which may be advertised at our regular rates, obtainable from The Anchor business olllce, telephone (508) 675-7151.

On Steering Points Items, FR Indicates Fall River; NB.lndlcates New Bedford.

ST. MARY, FAIRHAVEN Clean, lightweight clothing and bedding will be collected throughout August for Father Shanley's mission in Texas. Holy hour 7 p.m. Aug. 5.

MAILERS :;:: ::::::::

.:.;.:::;:::::::;:;:;:;:::::::::::;::::;;:;

l~i! ;U} !!!!!!!:tl?!i!!!!!!!!!I!!i!i!i!@ ~:~:;\{;; r)~::}} ::}{ ';::::::;::::::

l.;ill' ,'.:.:-:::

... '

..........

; ;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;;

.

.

ST. STEPHEN, ATTLEBORO Parish picnic I to 7 p. m. Aug. 21 . (rain date Aug. 28) at Dodgeville Baseball Field. Free hot dogs and hamburgers will be served. Advance registration is requested.

ST. PATRICK, WAREHAM Father Dan Lacroix will .offer Scripture study program on the Acts of the Apostles meeting monthly September through 路June. Registration deadline is Aug. 24; contact Father Lacroix at the rectory, 2952411.

ST. ANTHONY OF DESERT, FR Exposition of Blessed Sacrament noon to 6 p.m. Aug. 7 with holy hour at 5 p.m. Those interested in perpetual adoration may call 672-7653 or 678-3423.

ST. MARY, SE~KONK A new parish service ministry has been formed, with volunteer~ providing s.uch services as visiting and shopping for the homebound, respite for caregivers, babysitting, etc.

To volunteer or receive assistance contact Father Bruce Neylon or Father Bill Baker. 399-8440.

CAPE AND ISLANDS DEANERY of CHARISMATIC RENEW AL Healing service with Fathers Tom deLorenzo and John Cappucci 7 to 9 p.m. Aug. 20. Cape Cod Melody Tent, Hyannis. Music by Rainbow Connection. Free admission; all invited. Information: 428-9456.

NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING, FR Natural Family Planning classes will be held at St. Anne's H9spital 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 6. Oct. 4.

Nov. I and Dec. 6. The method is medically safe; highly effective and morally acceptable. Information: Rita Quinn. 676-1440; Diane Santos. 674-5741. ext. 2480 (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.). .

I.~ \'~.~

~#

i.~ ~~~~~~~J;?~~ ....~~IIiIIII.!!~~~~

A DVER TI S E YOUR SUMMER ACTIVITIES

OUR 31,000 READERS ARE LOOKING FOR YOUR WEEKEND AND VACATION FUN EVENTS

FOR INFORMATION CALL

675-7151 or FAX 675-7048

This Message Sponsored by the following Business Concerns in the Diocese of Fal~ River FALL RIVER TRAVEL BUREAU GILBERT C. OLlVI;IRA INSURANCE AGENCY GLOBE MANUFACTURING COMPANY

,1\ Ii

SAMARITANS, CAPE COD Volunteers needed to assist on 24hour phone lines taking calls from lonely. depressed and suicidal people. No special education or psychological background necessary. Information: 77.1-7770, 255-1888, 7592828, 548-8900.

Parish is thanked The following message from seminarian Leszek Baczkura to Father Robert S. Kaszynski and parishioners of St. Stanislaus Church, Fall River, where he had served in recent months, appeared in the parish bulletin: My dear friends, I have asked Father K for the opportunity to express my personal thanks in our weekend parish bulletin.

There are no words to express what I feel in my heart! You have all been so very good to me during my stay at St. Stan's!

I shall miss all of you very much! I promise you that in my daily prayer I shall mention you in a very special place reserved for my closest family members and friends. I honestly prot:Jlise you this! Besides -the monies you gave me for my airplane ticket, many people slipped additional money into my hand personally! One gentleman gave me $20 to buy fresh roses for my mother! You are truly a very closely knit, generous and loving Christian Community! I want to tell the people in Poland all about you-you will serve as an inspiration to them. I hope to see you again for Thanksgiving and perhaps Christmas.- I wish you blessings on Phase III of the building program! And please do remember me when you pray! I love you all very much! God bless you!

AL BARBARINO, a New York artist, will be featured in concert rain or shine at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 30, at LaSalette Shrine, Attleboro.

An associate Franciscan at Padre Pio Shelter in the Bronx, he donates pJ;oceeds from two releases, "Believe As Though You See," and "Sharing Our Faith" to. the shelter and to Croatian relief.

Further information: 2225410.

ii'

'I i

DEACON BEN BEAR (left) ministers to race:track workers like Enrique Lopez at Del Mar track in California.

Bear and his wife, Joan, aJ;e part owners of a f.acehorse. (CNS photo)

Deacon runs racetrack ministry DEL MAR, Calif. (CNS) ..,Ben L. "Ted" Bear spends many a summer afternoon at the Del Mar racetrack, and is known to make small wagers on h.orses.

The owner of a m.illion-dollar beachfront home practically within walking distance of the track, Bear is not looking to enrich himself by playing the ponies. But, as a permanent deacon, he looks for ways to enrich the faith of the trac!.< workers.

As the six-week summer season began at Del Mar in July, Bear was there to minister to the concerns of the mostly Latino Catholic laborers who groom, feed and exercise the horses. .

Until B.ear intervened, it had been a decade since a priest came to visit the track - and no ministry had ever. been conducted in Spanish.

Now, one evening a week, a Spanish Mass is celebrated in the workers' cafeteria overflow room.

While some men relax over a meal in the main cafeteria. the voices of 50-60 Massgoers ring out in praise of"EI Senor."

Bear recruited the priests. musicians and singers. He even arranged for Spanish-language holy cards and refreshments after Mass. He's also arranged for a similar Catholic ministry to be launched at the Santa Anita and Hollywood Park racetracks in Los Angeles County.

The 66-year-old Bear, a retireQ insurance executive, and his wife, J9a~, got involved in such diverse services as adopting disabled children, housing unwed mothers, and starting local12-step programs long before he became a deacon two years ago.

Now he tackles additional duties like communion, calls and marriage and annulment ministry plus his racetrack ministry.

"It takes someone like a deacon, like Ted, to explore out-of-theway places to find people in need." sai~ Father Mich~el Murphy, director of the permanent diaconate program in the dicoese of San Dieg9.

Racetrack life is "a fairly lonely and impoverished situation," said Jesuit Father Jt::rry McGlone, the other priest who celebrates Mass at Del Mar. .

"Behind the glitz and glitter of the racetrack. you realize there's a whole world of people who work very hard for very little and sacrifice a tremendous amount."

When Bear makes his morning rounds in the stable area, he tries to steer workers toward spiritual resources that might benefit them, such as nearby St. James-SL Leo Parish, and the Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings at the track.

He knows enough Spanish, and the laborers e'nough English, so that he can communicate a sense of caring and hospitality to them.

"I enjoy talking to them and letting them know we're friendly," Bear said, referring to the church.

"They like to know that th.ey're loved and welcomed to the parish community."

Priest on Hong Kong advisers' boardl HONG KONG (CNS) -- A former vicar general of the diocese of Hong Kong has been named an adviser to the Chinese government on Hong Kong affairs.

Father John Baptist Tsang Hingmun, 56, is the first Catholic priest appointed by' Beijing to such a position since appointments bf:gan . in 1992, UCA News reported.

Pastor of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Father Tsang told UCA News he was appointed as a citizen of Hong Kong, not as a church representative - although he will offer ad'{ice on l'eligious issues.

Father Tsang chairs the CarilasHong Kong council, the governing body o(the diocese's social service agency.

Appointees advise the Chinl~se government in preparation for 1997 , when Hong Kong sovereignty reverts to China after more than 150 years of British rule. ''I'll express the views and worries of local people on the unc,:rtain future to the Chinese government in my capacity as both a priest and a citizen of Hong Kong," said Father Tsang.

Bishop Connolly Six 1994 graduates of Bishop Connolly High School, Fall Rivf:r, were named Rhode Island Sch,olars by the Rhode Island High,~r Education Assistance Authority.

All Rhode Island residents, the students are Judd D. Berube, Joshua S. Campos, Christina M. Erwin, Garth P. Holman, Micha,~1 E. Terry, and Sarah A. Thiboutot.