PARISH MINISTRY IN THE HERITAGE OF HOLY CROSS

“Work ceaselessly to care for the flock entrusted to you.”

The five qualities cited in this series of bulletin inserts were articulated by the 1998 general chapter (assembly) of the Priests and Brothers of the Congregation of Holy Cross.

IV. SPECIAL PREOCCUPATION WITH THE STRENGTHENING OF FAMILY VALUES AND THE EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG.

Holy Cross came into existence at a time when church structures, parishes and schools, had been devastated by years of civil war. The economy was in decline and the need for employment made the family unit much less cohesive than in former times. Family values and basic education were often neglected. Father Moreau himself grew up in a nurturing family environment and had the opportunity for an education. When Holy Cross was being formed, family and education were high priorities.

Father Moreau would often use the expression the “Family of Holy Cross” when speaking about the brothers, priests, sisters, and those who worked with them. The primary qualities which were to mark this family included unity, cooperation with one another, care and concern for one another, charity. These qualities were necessary for all families if society was to have a strong foundation and a solid future. Father Moreau was ever concerned about workers, that they would have the means to provide for their families.

Closely related to this concern about families was the need for the education of youth. If their education is not a priority, then the future quality of life for the entire society is in jeopardy. The education Moreau proposed and presented was designed, as he wrote, “to prepare useful citizens for society and citizens for eternal life.” Whatever the specific type of education being offered, whether academic or technical, it was to be concerned about making people of learning as well as people of virtue. Though academic excellence was always to be the standard, Father Moreau believed that “society certainly needs people of values more than people of learning.” To accomplish that, education needed always to be side by side with instruction so “the mind will not be cultivated at the expense of the heart.”

The challenge today is to strengthen family values and the quality of education. The quality of communicating the faith, of evangelizing, will be especially influenced since the family is the fundamental educational and catechetical unit. If family and family values diminish, then the quality of understanding and communicating faith can also diminish.

1. What efforts are made, through programs and other activities, to strengthen “family values”?

2. How is the commitment to the “education of the young” expressed through programs and policies?

3. How do families assist and support families, and youth assist and support youth?