Texas Gulf Coast Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, November 17, 1978 Page: 2 of 6
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Page 2 TEXASGULF COAST CATHOLIC Friday, November 17, J978
The permanent
diaconate
HI
by ROY GRASSEDONIO
The following article was reprinted with permission from Our Sunday
Visitor.
It is entitled “Doors are opening to the Permanent Diaconate,” and
appeared in the April 9,1978, Visitor magazine supplement (Vol. 66, Number
50),page8. _
by STEPHANIE OVERMAN
The role of permanent deacon varies from diocese to diocese and from
deacon to deacon. Most men serve as part-time deacons, but a few give
full-time service. Fred Reed, a permanent deacon, and Roy Melancon, a
candidate for the diaconate in the Gallup Diocese, serve full time as part of a
team ministry there. Along with their wives, the Reeds’ two small children,
Father Maurice Roy, Sister Therese Dery and Sister Anne Marie Ammie,
the deacons live and work with Navajos at Saint Williams near their New
Mexico reservation.
Mr. Reed, 35, has been a deacon for almost two years, after a four-year
training program. He and his wife, Judy, have two daughters and “live on
the faith of benefactors” because his ministry is his full-time job. Mr.
Melancon and his wife, Lana, have grown children and worked as lay
volunteers before he entered the diaconate.
“I drifted into the diaconate; it changed my life,” Mr. Malencon said. “I
thought that even if I’m not ordained, I’ll still learn a lot from it.”
Mr. Reed came to the diaconate from the Southwest Volunteer Aposcolate
and has found “people don’t really understand the deacon program yet —
they just understand I work with the Church.
The deacons bring the Word as part of a team and they find team ministry
spiritually challenging.
“In team life maturity is important,” according to Father Roy. “If we
don’t know ourselves, how can we talk about God, how can we work with
others? We try to live together, to study together. It’s an art and a science to
work together for one purpose.”
Mr. Melancon agreed: “It’s not an easy task to get individual personalities
to jell for one purpose — to reach the Navajo. It’s a growing process for us.”
Father Roy believes the deacon’s first task to build within the community.
In time, he said, he hopes there will be little churches where the Indian can
meet, headed by permanent deacons. With fewer priests and Religious, he
sees a growing dependence on lay people and deacons.
"Deacons as a group care or provide for the community,” he said. Mr.
Melancon added the Church must come from within, and that deatims can
help develop Church leadership.
Reed is doing “everything a deacon does. I have bap ized, witnessed
marriages, distributed Communion. I also assist at liturgies and preach
every other week. In the parish I just help Father and the other team
members.”
Mr. Melancon’s studies for the diaconate include classes in public
speaking, reading, philosophy and spiritual reading. The team members
visit homes and try to help with needs they find there. They conduct classes
in religious education.
“We try to give the people many classes before considering the
sacraments. We want to be sure they have the faith,” Mr. Reed said. “The
home visits are really just to make friends. Many p>eople here haven’t seen a
priest or missionary in this area in 25 years. At first they wouldn’t open the
door, now there isn’t a home we can’t go into.”
Doors are now opening to deacons in dioceses throughout the country as
they work within the community and in the Church.
Capital Comments
Issues for 66th
session of Texas
legislature emerging
by RICHARD DALY
Although the 66th Session of the
Texas Legislature will not convene for
two months, a number of issues which
have been addressed by the United
States Catholic Conference and the
Texas Catholic Conference are
already emerging as concerns.
The dramatic statement by the
Vatican newspaper, Osservatore
Romano, concerning the death
penalty and death by injection should
have an impact on some Texas
lawmakers when they discuss those
issues next year. The fact that the
Vatican editorial was directly addres-
sing a case in Texas is even more
extraordinary. The Texas Catholic
Conference as well as the Texas
Conference of Churches is cooperat-
ing with the Texas Coalition Against
the Death Penalty to secure legisla-
tion outlawing the death penalty in our
state.
A number of agricultural issues will
occupy the attention of the legislators.
Rep. Bill Keese of Somerville has
announced that he will introduce
legislation requiring foreign investors
to report land ownership to the
Secretary of State of Texas. Rep.
Keese’s bill is a modification of
legislation previously introduced
which, in the long run, could benefit
family farmers.
The United States Catholic Confer-
ence, the National Catholic Rural Life
Conference, and the Texas Catholic
Conference have all issued statements
supporting the concept of the family
farm in Texas. Whether or not the
Legislature in its wisdom will support
legislation aimed at assisting family
farmers remains to be seen.
Another agricultural issue that
needs attention is the plight of
migrant and seasonal farmworkers in
Texas. A bill to establish an
Agricultural Labor Relations Board
similar to the one established in
California will be introduced. Most
Texans are not aware that such a
Board is necessary because farm and
ranch workers are specifically
excluded from coverage under the
National Labor Relations Act. There
is little likelihood, however, that an
agricultural Labor Relations Act will
be passed in Texas.
Another bill which could alleviate
some of the problems faced by Texas
farm and ranch workers that does
have a chance of passage, however, is
a workmen’s compensation bill.
Again, most Texans are not aware
that farm and ranch workers are
specifically excluded from workmen’s
compensation coverage by state law.
Representatives Jerry Lynn Benedict
of Angelton, and Ben Reyes and Ron
Waters of Houston have already
indicated that they intend to introduce
such a bill. A similar piece of
legislation received the support of the
Texas Catholic Conference last
session.
Even bingo for charitable purposes
will receive mention again this
session. The Texas Democratic Party
went on record at its state convention
in Fort Worth on September 16 in
suport of such legislation. Hopefully,
the traditional foes of the legalization
of bingo will be able to see the
distinction between games operated
for charitable purposes and gambling
operated by organized crime and not
oppose the legislation.
These are just a few of the issues
that are already gaining mention in
Texas. Last session, the Office of
Government Relations of the Texas
Legislature. Next year the number
may be even greater.
Medieval touch
Trumpeters wearing medieval costumes play their trumphets as Pope John Paul II waves from the
balcony of the Cathedral of Assisi. <NC Photo)
Edi to mals
it of C Grand Knight meets new pope
VATICAN CITY — Virgil C.
Dechant, supreme knight of the
Knights of Columbus, with a French
name and a German background,
brought a surprised look to the face of
Pope John Paul II when he greeted
him in Polish during a private
audience here.
“Nyeh binje pohvalony Jezus
Chrystus” (praised be Jesus Christ),
Dechant said as he kissed the pontiff’s
ring.
“Oh, are you Polish?” the pope
asked in surprise.
“No, but many of our members are
Polish,” Dechant replied.
The top official of the 1.3-million-
member Catholic fraternal society led
a delegation which assisted at the
pope’s inaugural Mass as supreme
pastor. He was prompted to use the
Polish greeting by Julian F. Joseph of
Allen Park, Mich., a member of the
society’s board of directors who is of
Polish extraction. The greeting is a
common form of salutation among
Catholics in Poland.
Dechant, a 48-year-old executive
from LaCrosse, Kan., extended
congratulations to the pontiff on
behalf of the Knights of Columbus and
offered his best wishes for a fruitful
pontificate. He also pledged the
Catholic society’s unswerving loyalty
and filial devotion to the pontiff,
offering to assist him in all his
endeavors.
Others in the group included
Bishop Charles P. Greco, supreme
chaplain of the Knights of Columbus,
Alexandria, La.; Dr. John H. Griffin,
supreme physician, Hughesville, Md.;
Count Enrico Galeazzi, Knights of
Columbus representative in Rome;
Mrs. Dechant; and Mrs. Griffin.
Galeazzi briefed Pope John Paul on
the many programs conducted by the
Knights of Columbus, particularly
their projects to foster vocations,
strengthen family life, use the media
Moral directions
by FR. BENEDICT ASHLEY, OP
Q. Isn’t it a mortal sin to miss Mass on
Sundays or Holy D*ys? My daughter
says that her teacher in our parochial
schools says it is no sin at all. What
am I to tell her?
The first three commandments tell
us that all of Jewish and Christian
morality is based on the worship of the
true God, not merely as individuals
but as His people. Only by regular
worship of God can we come to know
Him and to live in covenant with Him.
Without this regular communication
with our God, we quickly become
forgetful of Him. No one but God can
ever satisfy the longing of the human
heart for faithful love. If we forget
Him, we will wander away from him
into the desert of loneliness, which is
the beginning of Hell.
Jesus Clfftst on earth was ever
mindful of His Father and joined His
people in the worship of the synagogue
and temple (Luke 2:41-52; 4:14-30'. He
left His own Church the Eucharist as
for evangelization and spread
devotion to the Virgin Mary.
An accomplished linguist, the pope
switched comfortably from Italian to
English and vice versa during the
audience. He related that he had
become personally acquainted with
the work of the Knights of Columbus
during his visits to the United States.
He expressed his appreciation for the
society’s apostolate of “using the
mass media for evangelization,”
particularly the funding of papal
telecasts to the world via satellite. He
also was grateful for the “timely
programs” of fostering vocations,
strengthening family life, supporting
Catholic education, conducting pro-
life activities and promoting devotion
to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The pope added that he could not
neglect to mention his appreciation
for the Knights’ long history of loyalty
to the Holy See and he encouraged
them to continue this tradition.
Dechant presented Pope John Paul
with a delicate porcelain sculpture of
the Virgin Mary created by a Polish
emigre who escaped to the United
States during the Nazi era. The
statuette is called “Madonna, House
of Gold” and is the work of Bolesiaw
Cybis. The pope, who has a special
devotion to Mary, expressed his
thanks for the gift, noting that he
knew of the famous Polish artist.
As the audience ended Bishop Greco
told the pontiff that all the Knights
will pray that his reign “will be long
and glorious."
“As God wills, thank you,” the pope
responded with a smile.
The audience represented a new
milestone in the life of Bishop Greco
who now has been received by seven
consecutive popes, beginning with
Benedict XV whom he met in 1918
prior to his priestly ordination.
After the audience Dechant stated
that one of the most ""impressive
qualities of the new pontiff are his
warm, penetrating eyes. “He is so
intensely interested that he is always
eyeballing you,” the Catholic
fraternal leader commented.
its chief act of worship — remem-
brance of Him as He offered Himself
to His Father on the Cross. The
Christian Church, in keeping with the
seven-day week of the Old Law, has
always celebrated the Eucharist
weekly but on Sunday, the day of the
Lord’s Resurrection. Yet Jesus taught
that “Sabbath was made for man, not
man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27),
showing us that our actual way of
worship can be accommodated to
human needs and circumstances.
Canon Law (1247-1249) provides that
the Christian community is to worship
on Sundays and certain Holy Days,
but it does not state that a violation of
this duty is a mortal sin. Theologians
in the past taught that to miss Mass
without a serious reason was a mortal
sin, but the arguments they gave for
this were not entirely convincing,
since it is not clear how missing Mass
on this or that occasion makes a
serious difference in the fulfillment of
one's duty to worship God. Probably,
texas gulf coast
CATHOLIC
Published weekly, except me ijit week at December tnd the Ini weekot July
Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Corpus Christi
Pope John Paul II gestures with both hands as he stresses a point in an animated conversation with
Virgil C. Dechant, supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus, during a private audience. The head
of the 1.3-million-member f 'atholic fraternal society led a delegation of Knights which attended the
pope’s inauguration Mass as supreme pastor. Listening attentively are Mrs. Ann Dechant and Bishop
Charles P. Greco, supreme chaplain of the Knights of Columbus.
the reasoning was that if a person is
permitted to miss Mass, he will soon
miss regularly.
There is some truth in that, because
in our secular society the danger of
growing indifferent to God is very
great However, it seems to me that
v/e do more for a child by instructing
them in how to worship God regularly
and the great benefits derived from
the Eucharist, than by telling them
they must go to avoid mortal sin.
The approach through fear is likely
to seem arbitrary, incredible, and
hateful. At most it leads people to be
physically present at Mass with real
participation in worship. However, I
would include in my instruction the
warning that habitual failure to
worship with the Christian
community is certainly mortal sin.
since it seriously imperils our fidelity
to God and to the community. Nor
friendship can survive habitual
neglect of a friend and indifference to
their existence.
President.................
Editor and Business Manager.
News Editor .............
Most Rev. ThomasJ. Drury D.D.
...........Fr. Robert Freeman
..............Terri Ackerman
Circulation/Advertising Manager
Mary Vasquez
Address all communications
TEXAS GULF COAST CATHOLIC
P O Box 2 584, Corpus Chnsti, Texas 78403
Telephone 882 6191
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Cm pus Christi, Texas
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Freeman, Robert E. Texas Gulf Coast Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, November 17, 1978, newspaper, November 17, 1978; Corpus Christi, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth840511/m1/2/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .