Weekly Column

March 7, 2010

Dear Friends,

A few of the recent submissions to the Suggestion Box (located in the church vestibule) have focused on various aspects of our parish liturgy. It’s wonderful that parishioners have taken the time to make suggestions about the most important aspect of our parish life, the “source and summit” of our Christian life, as the Second Vatican Council taught.

A couple of submissions suggested a type of question and answer period after the homily or at the end of mass. One parishioner suggested that it focus on answering questions about the mass, the church, religion... Another parishioner suggested a type of “Dear Father” for the purpose of addressing various personal/family issues that people face today. In theory I think both of these suggestions are fantastic. The first focuses on our need to better understand our faith and religion. The second seeks the guidance of the church on the complicated issues that face all of us today.

I’m afraid, however, that most parishioners would get a bit anxious or impatient if we extended the mass every week for these discussions, as important as they are. We try not to extend the length of the Sunday mass too often: for an occasional baptism during mass, or after communion for the annual financial report or the annual viewing of the Catholic Charities Appeal video each spring.

As I write this column, I’m remembering a program I sponsored once a semester for the students in O’Hara Hall, where I lived at Stonehill College for ten years. It was called “Ask Father Jim Anything.” It was an opportunity for students to ask questions about any topic- religion, faith, morality, the church, current affairs, the life of a priest… Perhaps we can adapt this to our parish and create a vehicle whereby members of the pastoral team could be available a couple times a year for parishioners who might come with questions about faith and religion, the challenges of living a Christian life in today’s society, etc.

There have been a couple other suggestions placed in the box in the past few months. I’ve been impressed with the topics addressed by these suggestions and the seriousness of the submissions. Not all of them can be implemented for a variety of reasons. But please know that every suggestion is seriously considered. I invite parishioners to continue to use the Suggestion Box as a means of communicating with me and the pastoral team.

Yours in Holy Cross,

Father Jim

February 28, 2010

Dear Friends,

As we mentioned at last weekend’s masses, the Vatican recently announced that Blessed Andre Bessette, C.S.C., will be canonized a saint on October 17, 2010, in Rome. This is an exciting time for the Congregation of Holy Cross sisters, brothers and priests throughout the world, as Brother Andre will be the first Holy Cross religious to be declared a saint.

Brother Andre become renowned in Canada and New England as the “Miracle Worker” of Montreal due to the numerous cures he performed through the intercession of Saint Joseph. Originally the porter at Collége Notre Dame in Montreal, he built a small chapel across the street where he could meet with the throngs who came to him seeking a cure. This chapel later expanded to the St. Joseph Oratory that today attracts thousands of pilgrim a year. Brother Andre died only seventy years ago, a relatively short period of time in which to be canonized by the church.

We will keep the parish informed of upcoming plans by the Congregation of Holy Cross concerning pilgrimages to Rome and Montreal, as well as local observances, celebrating Brother Andre’s canonization.

Brother Andre is the first of several Holy Cross religious who are now being investigated for possible recognition as saints in the church. Father Basil Moreau, C.S.C., the founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross Priests, Brothers and Sisters, was declared blessed in 2007, and will presumably be the second Holy Cross religious canonized, but his final miracle has not yet been presented to the Vatican. Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., the world famous Rosary Priest buried at Stonehill College, along with Brother Flavian Laplante, C.S.C., of Bangladesh, Archbishop Theotonius Ganguly, C.S.C., of India, and Bishop Vincent Joseph McCauley, C.S.C., of Uganda, have all recently been declared “Servant of God” by the Church, a recognition of their lives of virtue that allows their process toward canonization to proceed.

In response to the news of Brother Andre’s canonization, a parishioner reminded me of our own “saintly” Brother Jim Madigan, C.S.C, who was such an example to our parish community of humble service and simple living. Many of us can think of other Holy Cross religious here at Holy Cross Parish over the past forty years whose lives also inspired us, through whom we came to know God more fully in our own lives. They are men who lived the example given us by Holy Cross religious such as Father Moreau and Brother Andre. Our parish continues to be blessed by the legacy of these faithful servants (with a small “s”) of God.

Yours in Holy Cross,

Father Jim

February 21, 2010

Dear Friends,

Are you familiar with our parish mission statement? In the minutes of this month’s pastoral council meeting, included in last week’s bulletin, you read that the pastoral council slightly revised our mission statement. It now reads:

The Holy Cross Parish Community is committed in faith and love of Jesus Christ to fulfill the profoundly human and spiritual needs of its parishioners and the larger community it serves. We seek to inspire all, through deeds and by example, to do the work of Christ: to make God known, loved, and served.

By changing the order of the first sentence and slightly changing the language, it becomes a more declarative statement of our purpose as a parish community. More significantly, the addition of the closing phrase, to make God known, loved, and served, articulates how we live out our purpose, our mission, as a parish.

The mission statement reminds us that we are a community. We are a parish family made up of all the individual households who together form Holy Cross Parish. We witness to what we profess to the extent that people see us as a community of Christians who love one another and reach out to fulfill the needs of its members and the larger community, locally and globally.

As a community of love and service, we are meant to inspire ourselves and others to do the work of Christ; we do this most effectively by our example. We do the work of Christ by striving to make God known, loved, and served in our world. We are already familiar with this phrase, as we see it on the back of the church sign located on our front lawn. Below the phrase is a reference to the author of that phrase, Blessed Basil Moreau, C.S.C., the founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross sisters, brothers, and priests. Just as he exhorted his early Holy Cross religious to work to make God known, loved, and served, so too does he challenge us today, all of us who can claim to be part of his heritage by being served by his Holy Cross religious today.

One member of the pastoral council observed that many in our parish probably think that this phrase from Father Moreau is our parish mission statement. Perhaps we could say that it is our parish mission, and the statement above articulates why and how we fulfill that mission. Our challenge is to live out our mission statement, to fulfill our parish mission to make God known, loved, and served.

Yours in Holy Cross,

Father Jim

February 14, 2010

Dear Friends,

Last Monday evening the Taunton Deanery (all the parishes in Taunton, Easton, Raynham, & North Dighton) held a meeting of the directors of faith formation, deacons, and priests in the deanery. The meeting developed out of discussions at the priests’ monthly deanery meetings concerning the lack of attendance at Sunday mass by children who attend our religious education and faith formation programs. The question arose as to whether many parents feel they are meeting their “obligation” concerning their children’s religious formation by “bringing” them to religious education classes, instead of understanding that Sunday Eucharist is the primary means of forming our children in their faith, with religious education supporting and supplementing what they experience at mass.

We are fortunate that, here at Holy Cross, parents don’t “drop off” their children for religious education, but instead participate with their children in their faith formation, adults and children being catechized through our Generations of Living Faith program. Of course, we have added the monthly “Just for Kids” classes and the 7^th-8^th grade Lenten mini-course to supplement what they learn in G.O.L.F., but we cannot overestimate the value of their parents participating with them in the regular Generations of Living Faith sessions. Some diocesan and parish reps at the meeting spoke positively of the pioneering approach we have taken at Holy Cross toward our children’s faith formation. As one participant reminded us, parents are also learning about their faith and religion even in a presentation to their youngest children.

In the end, the critical truth that we discussed at the meeting is the centrality of the Eucharist, the “source and summit” of our lives as Catholic Christians. Nothing can take the place of the spiritual experience and the faith formation that take place at Sunday mass (nor replace the obligation we have as Catholics to attend mass every Sunday). Generations of Living Faith and the supplemental classes for the children can never take the place of Sunday mass. It is the parents’ responsibility to bring their children to Sunday mass; once they are teenagers and preparing to be confirmed in their faith, it becomes their responsibility to ensure they can get to Sunday mass every week.

I am truly grateful to all our parents who make the time to attend the G.O.L.F. meetings with their children, for supporting their religious education and faith formation in this way. I am even more grateful to all our parents who also ensure that their children, from kindergarten through high school, attend mass every Sunday. You are faithfully fulfilling the promise you made at their baptisms “to raise them in the practice of the faith.” Thank you for the role model and example you are to your children- to our parish children.

Yours in Holy Cross,

Father Jim

Pastor's Weekly Column