Pastor's
Page
By
Fr. George Welzbacher
May
13, 2007
In
the May 7th edition of The St. Paul
Pioneer Press a front page report by David Hanners provided a
forum for opinions pro and con with respect to the ecclesiology of our
newly appointed Coadjutor Archbishop, John Nienstedt. Let me state at
the outset that Archbishop Nienstedt's ecciesiology and my own
ecclesiology are precisely the same, namely
that "the truth ... revealed by Christ" is a truth with which you and I
are not free to tamper. It is not for our "economy-model" minds to sit
in judgment on what the Supreme and Eternal Word has revealed, "in Whom
are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). Rather
what is called for is the humble "obedience of faith" that St. Paul,
speaking in the Holy Spirit, enjoins upon all true disciples of Christ
(Romans 1:5). Which is why a bishop "must hold firm to the
sure word as
taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine
and also be able to confute those
who contradict
it. For there are many
insubordinate men, many empty talkers and deceivers....
rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.... ' (Titus
1: 9, 10 and 13).
In the same vein he gave instruction to Timothy: "Follow
the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me .. guard the truth
that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us"
(2 Timothy l:13 & 14), "and what you have heard from me
before many witnesses entrust to faithful men
who will be able to teach others in their turn. " (2 Timothy 2:2).
Archbishop Nienstedt summed up his ecclesiology in an
interview published recently in The
Catholic Spirit, an ecclesiology that accords perfectly with St.
Paul's instructions to Timothy and Titus. Archbishop Nienstedt
declared: "I believe what the Church believes. And unfortunately, in
this day and age where there is such pluralism and individualism in our
society, a person
who believes in a creed, as we do as Catholics, is somehow considered
hard-line or a fanatic-a zealot, if you will- because they
believe what they believe, they believe what the Church believes."
Today as in St. Paul's day the insubordinate are in no
very short supply. For example, in recent public challenges to
Archbishop Nienstedt's authority as well as to the authority of Pope
John Paul and Pope Benedict, a priest of this archdiocese, the chronic
malcontent Michael Tegeder, has assumed the role of roadside bomber. Or
maybe sucide bomber would be the metaphor more apt? As quoted in David
Hanners' report, Father Tegeder shared with the readers of The Pioneer Press his appraisal of
our newly appointed Coadjudutor Archbishop: "He's so self-righteous....
It's what [Popes] John Paul and Benedict want to see- [Well, at least
the new Archbishop is in good company there!]- a smaller church, a more
militant church, a less open church, a church of followers, 'Just march
in step and we'll lead you to the Promised Land ..... This
man is a bully, he's a spiritual bully. It's going to be that constant
hectoring, and we're going to have so many demoralized people, and
we're going to have so many people leaving."
(My own judgment would be that those who hold to Michael
Tegeder's views have already left).
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In the meantime, as the echo chambers of the media thrill again to the
same old songs, may I share with you some really good news. After, so
to speak, the raging forest fires of decades past, kindled by arsonists
supposedly driven by something that called itself "the spirit of
Vatican II"--well there are spirits and, and yes! there are
spirits!-new life is springing up. At least in America vocations to the
priesthood are on the rise again. (St. John Vianney Seminary on the
campus of our own University of St. Thomas is bursting at the seams,
with a consequent need to lodge a number of seminarians in,
I believe, four separate houses). And most of the younger priests across
this land are proud to call themselves "John Paul priests",
unembarrassed by their allegiance right down the line to the teaching
of Christ's Church. And new orders and
congregations of nuns,
(and older
contemplative orders as well, like the Carmelites at Lake
Demontreville), living in prayerful community and wearing religious
habits, are attracting young candidates in encouraging numbers. Two
wonderful young nuns, teaching in the St. Agnes Grade School for the
past two years under the guidance of an elderly resident Mother
Superior, have come to our Archdiocese from their motherhouse in
Baltic, Connecticut: the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady, Mother
of the Church. And from St. Agnes Parish two mature candidates have
already been accepted as postulants by these Sisters of Charity. The
Louisville Dominicans who now teach in Stillwater and the Sisters of
St. George who staff a school in our neighboring diocese of Lacrosse
are likewise experiencing very rapid growth. And just this past week I
received a letter that I would like to share with you here. It is from a new
institute founded ten years ago under the patronage of John Cardinal
O'Connor. (You may recall their presence in their white
religious habits at Cardinal O'Connor's televised ftmeral Mass in St.
Patrick's Cathedral, when, at the homilist's mention of the
inviolability of innocent human life from conception to natural death,
the young nuns rose spontaneously to their feet in silent but public
affirmation of what had just been said, followed quickly by the rest of
the congregation and finally with stony-faced reluctance, even by
President and Mrs. Clinton and sundry pro-abortion politicians
who had been seated in the front pews.) These youthful new witnesses to
Christ are known as the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the
Eucharist. For your encouragement I reprint here, somewhat abridged,
the letter I received from their Prioress General, Mother Assurnpta
Long. For those who would like to make a modest donation, I include
their address. Happy reading!
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Dear
Faithful Catholic,
If you have ever prayed to see young Catholic women once
again flocking to the religious life in a spirit of total fidelity to
Holy Mother Church, then I have wonderful news for you.
Your prayers have been answered. That day is here!
My name is Mother Assumpta Long, Mother Superior of the
Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. In the ten years since our
founding, our numbers have increased more than 1,700% - from four
sisters to 69 (and counting!).
And consider this: at a time when the average American
sister is in her sixties, most of our sisters are in their twenties.
All of which has created a rather different sort of
"vocations crisis" for us-one stemming from the costs of housing and
forming "too many" young sisters, and training them to be
school-teachers (our primary apostolate).
Which is why I am coming to you for help. The story I have
to tell will not only amaze and uplift you, but (I hope and pray)
inspire you to tell others about us-perhaps resulting in more vocations
to our community.
(Imagine a holy sister finding her vocation thanks to
you!)
In 1996, the late Pope John Pau lII issued an urgent
summons. Observing, in his exhortation Vita Consecrata, that widespread
loss of faith had left the world "one great mission land, even in
countries of long-standing tradition," he called on consecrated
religious to lead a "new evangelization."
But to do that, wrote the Holy Father, it would be
necessary to revitalize the consecrated life itself. How? By, among
other things, founding religious communities that were "new in ardor"
and capable of "responding to the challenges of our times."
It so happened that I and three of my Dominican sisters
had long desired to found a new community that would combine the
traditional Dominican charism of "teaching and preaching" with a
spirituality firmly grounded in Eucharistic adoration and Marian
devotion. Realizing that this would wonderfully fulfill the Pope's dual
mandate - evangelization and renewal-we decided that
the time was at hand to act on our desires....
But the question remained: Though we knew what we wanted
to do, exactly how- and where-would we do it?
Our answer came quickly: from New York's John Cardinal
O'Connor. On February 9, 1997, in the private chapel of St. Patrick's
Cathedral, His Eminence received, in the name of Holy Mother Church,
our vows as the four founding members of a new religious institute. To
signal our unique devotional emphasis, we took the name, "The Sisters
of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist."
Soon after our canonical establishment, God found work for
as....
In April, 1997 Bishop Carl F. Mengeling welcomed us into
the Diocese of Lansing, Michigan. With the Cardinal's permission, we
moved to Ann Arbor, where we built our Motherhouse.
At the time, of course, you could still count us on one
hand. So a motherhouse built to house 23 sisters seemed quite
sufficient.
Little did we know what God had in storefor us...
Vocations came quickly - and, like the "miraculous draught
of fishes" in the Gospels, kept on coming!
By August 1999, we had already welcomed eight postulants
(new members). In the Jubilee year 2000, we accepted another dozen,
doubling our numbers in a single year. Since then, more than four dozen
young women have joined us!
But even more amazing than the sheer number of vocations
to our community has been their caliber, and marvelous diversity.
Many of our sisters come to us from the colleges that have
been leading a revival of orthodoxy in Catholic higher education-such
as Thomas Aquinas College, the Franciscan University of Steubenville,
Magdalen College, and Christendom College.
They come, too, from every region of America, as well as
from Canada-and from as far away as Taiwan.
While most of our sisters are "cradle Catholics," several
are converts. Sister Philip John, for instance, is a former Baptist.
Sister Immaculata converted from Lutheranism. And Sister Incamata, our
Taiwanese sister, had been an atheist (in a predominantly Buddhist
culture that is very hostile to the Faith).
Their life-experiences and talents are no less diverse.
Sister Maria Guadalupe, for example, worked as a Catholic missionary in
Belize. Sister Thomas Aquinas was headed for a career in the Air
Force-she's a licensed pilot! Sister Annunciata spent time helping
Mother Teresa's sisters in Calcutta. Sister Thomas Augustine was a Park
Avenue lawyer when she found us.
But in the end, all had one thing in common: they heard
God's call to the religious life with the Dominican Sisters of Mary!...
It is God alone, of course, who has blessed our new
community with so many vocations. But may we not discern in some things
we have done-and, perhaps just as important not done-some reasons for His
overwhelming beneficence?
I believe we can. None, I hasten to add, are in any way
original with us. Quite the opposite: they mark a return to some neglected or
discarded aspects of the religious life that nourished the great
religious orders for centuries. To mention just a few:
Unwavering
orthodoxy: As Dominicans, the motto of our order is
Veritas-Truth. Accordingly, we believe it is our duty to receive God's
truth from the Magisterium of His church-and then carry itforth,
unaltered and undiluted, to others.
Rigorous study, therefore, is intearal to our long
formation--eight years from postulancy to final vows. Throughout these
years, postulants and novices study the fundamentals of the Faith as
presented in scripture, the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas, the
Cathechism of the Catholic Church, papal writings, and other source
documents. They also study Mariology, Church history, spiritual
classics, liturgy, and more.
Then, of course, we take these treasures out into the
world through our teaching and evangelizing!
Constant
prayer: Prayer is as necessary to the religious life as water is
to a plant. Without it, we die.
Therefore, our prayer life comes first, so that our
apostolate overflows from a contemplation nourished before the
Eucharist. Daily, our Sisters join in Community to pray:
• The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
• The Liturgy of the Hours (The Divine Office)
• A Eucharistic Holy Hour
• The Rosary
• Renewal of Consecration to Mary
• A Prayer for Vocations
• Meditation
Plus, every Friday, we have Eucharistic Adoration with
confessions; and, on First Fridays, all-night Eucharistic Adoration.
The
traditional habit: As denoted in Canon Law, the religious habit
is a sign of consecration and a witness to poverty. It speaks instantly
and eloquently, yet wordlessly, of who we are and what we believe.
As a symbol of one "given to Christ," the habit "claims"
us to be His Spouses in much the same way that a wedding ring announces
to the world-and reminds oneself-that one is "taken." It is a sign of
hope in a world that needs to be reminded of the possibility of living
joyfully in the freely chosen consecration of chastity, poverty, and
obedience.
I and my fellow sisters could tell you countless stories
of how the mere sight of our Dominican habits has sparked reactions in
Catholics-and non-Catholies--that prove the tremendous power of its
witness.
JOY!
When you get a moment, take a look at some of the enclosed photos of
our sisters. Notice how they're always smiling? There's a reason: they
love being sisters. To the Dominican Sisters of Mary, a life of service
isn't a burden, but a high privilege--and a thrilling adventure. Even
our hardships bring us joy, by uniting us with Our Lord in His Passion.
The past three decades have seen the virtual disappearance
of the teaching sisters that made Catholic schools educationally
superior, genuinely Catholic-and widely affordable. The loss to the
Church, and to generations of Catholic children, has been incalculable.
But it is not irreversible, and the Dominican Sisters of Mary are
dedicated to reviving this tradition.
All of our sisters, once they reach the fourth year of
formation, receive training and certification as schoolteachers. Then,
they teach in the K-8 schools we administer or in other schools,
including mission schools ....
This is just the beginning. As our community continues to
grow, with the help of people like you, we hope to expand our teaching
apostolate to all other regions of America-including yours!
In fact, this "nationwide expansion" of our teaching apostolate has
already begun. Last Fall, our community answered the gracious
invitations of Bishops Thomas J. Olmsted and Robert J. Baker to expand
our teaching apostolate to two new dioceses- Phoenix, Arizona, and
Charleston, South Carolina. Seven of our Sisters are now teaching in
their schools!
Though teaching is our primary apostolate, we also engage in other
forma of evangelization, including apologetics (defending the Faith) on
college campuses; spiritual retreats for single and married women; and
apostolic endeavors (each year, for instance, we lend our presence to
the annual March for Life in Washington).
Severe shortage of space and funds: Your help is needed URGENTLY
As I said at the outset, there is a severe financial
"downside" to being a young and growing religious community.
First, with most of our sisters still in formation, or in
training as teachers, only a handful of us-14 of 69 presently receive
stipends (very modest ones at that, which is as we believe it should
be). As time passes, this will change; butfor now we are almost
entirely dependent on outside support.
Second, we are suffering a continuing crisis of living
space. Our Motherhouse, you see, was built for only 23 sisters, so we
recently embarked on a three-phase expansion that will allow it to
accommodate almost 100 sisters. Yet, even with Phase II of our
expansion completed, we now have cells (rooms) for only 70 sisters-with
69 to house right now, and perhaps a dozen or so more when we accept
postulants next fall.
Unfortunately, our finances are such that we've had to
delay the third and final phase of our Motherhouse expansion-just when
we most desperately need the space ...
You might say that, like St. Peter, we have stepped out in
faith onto difficult economic waters. But what else could we do? Christ
Himself beckoned us to follow. We asked Him for a congregation bursting
with young women burning with a love of the Master-and He gave them to
us, more than we can adequately provide for without help from our
fellow Catholics....
So please if you can, would you ... make a tax-deductible
donation.... to help support the vocations He is sending us in such
staggering abundance?
In Our Lord and His Blessed Mother,
Mother Assumpta Long, O.P.
Co-foundress and Prioress General
Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist
4597 Warren Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105
P.S. We pray often and especially for the intentions of all our
benefactors. But if you have some particularly urgent need, please let
us know ... praying-for those in need is what we love to do!
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