CTA Newsletter January - February 1999

Call to Action

NEW MEXICO

"He was called a rabble rouser,
one who wanted change too fast.
We are in good company, no?
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.


Editor: John Wheeler, 615 West First, T or C  87901  January/February 1999


Contents


 

In This Issue

This is a January/February issue because too much was going on in the middle of January and later in the month. It seemed best to wait until the end of the month to get this newsletter out. 1999 will likely see the publication of this newsletter on a bimonthly basis.

The Steering Committee met in Albuquerque on January 10 and completed a draft of the mission statement suitable for discussions at subsequent membership meetings. The Southern N.M. group met in Las Cruces January 18. There will be a general meeting in Albuquerque on February 21. Sharon Pikula shares some interesting information gained from her Doctor of Ministry program. Mike Thull shares some thoughts on understanding Jesus' law of love. The editor gives a report on communications and provides a financial report. The editor closes with a description and estimated timetable for incorporation, tax steps, and official recognition by the National Office of Call to Action.


 

Mission Statement

The Steering Committee met on January 10 at the home of Tom & Jane Baechle. The meeting was chaired by Sharon Pikula. Sr. Linda Chavez led the discussion on the mission statement. Also present were Les & Bea Brasher, Kate Pelley, and John Wheeler. After considering suggestions made by mail and email from two CTA-NM members, then considering IRS tax exemption issues, the group came up with a basic statement of mission. Thereafter, those of the group on the internet considered other changes (chiefly in response to the need to please the IRS), then came up with the following:

CTA New Mexico is an affiliate of Call to Action, a national non profit organization composed of Catholic laity, religious, and clergy. We embrace the values and principles of the national organization, which are grounded in the Second Vatican Council. We operate in an egalitarian manner, respectful of divergent points of view. As an inclusive community, we nurture and support one another, aware of our need to deepen our spirituality. We reclaim our responsibility to be church by being open to renewal, by identifying injustices, and by responding to the 'signs of the times'."

The foregoing will be open to discussion by everyone at the general membership meeting in February.

Jesus envisioned a radically egalitariancommunity
before his followers adopted hierarchical structures
borrowed from the Roman Empire

... so reported Call to Action News in its December 1998 National Conference Report as it quoted remarks by Harvard theologian Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza at the November Milwaukee conference. Webster's defines 'egalitarian' as the adjective for 'egalitarianism', then defines the latter thusly: 1: A belief in human equality esp. with respect to social, political, and economic rights and privileges; 2: a social philosophy advocating the removal of inequalities among persons.

The Call to Action News article went on to quote Fiorenza's elaboration on egalitarianism as applied to the Roman Catholic Church and its so-called laity. "Never call you selves 'lay' ('laicos' in Greek, meaning subordinate to the clergy)," she said. "We are the People of God, not second-class citizens. We hold the power of the people. If we refuse to consent o dominative teachings, the Vatican loses its power of control.

Some of us, including the Editor, looked askance at the use of this strange "big" word. However, an examination of the Thesaurus was no help. It has no synonym, simple or otherwise.

Readers of CTA New Mexico may wish to reflect on these thoughts of egalitarianism as they ponder the significance of the use of this concept in the Steering Committee's proposed mission statement.


 

February 21 General Meeting

Everyone is invited to Tom and Jane Baechle's house on February 21, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (7021 Lamar NW, 899-2806). Bring a snack or dessert to share.

We will socialize for about 15 minutes, begin with a prayer, then view a video entitled "Genesis of the Heart", the lead program of the "Inside the Vatican" series. The video focuses on St. John XXIII, who had the kind of empathetic heart which most of us feel all pastors and bishops should have. It not only speaks lovingly of the beautiful personality of Angelo Roncalli, but describes the social climate within which he called the Second Vatican Council. This will be followed by a discussion on the differences between then and now. Finally, we will discuss the mission statement (see discussion elsewhere in this issue). Assuming sufficient consensus (and time permitting), we will move on to some brainstorming on appropriate Goals and Objectives. This will assist the Steering Committee when it meets again in March to continue its organizing work.


 

January 18 Las Cruces Meeting

Southern N.M. CTA followers assembled at St. Albert the Great Newman Center in Las Cruces for 5:30 p.m. mass on January 19. The group has established a pattern of meeting quarterly but has now decided to meet bimonthly. The special occasion on this date was to remember St. Martin Luther King Jr., the meeting being held on his federal holiday. Following Mass, the group traveled to the home of Ivan White and Pat Bonneau-White where a delicious meal was shared. Those present were our hosts, Ivan & Pat, Pat's mother Dorothy, Sharon Pikula (down from Albuquerque), Charlotte Kinch, John & Mary Phillips, Paul Mitchell, John Wheeler, Janis McNamara, Genevieve Chavez, and Kate Pelly.

Thereafter, and following introductions, the group followed a prepared agenda which consisted of a reflection on Dr. King's life, a report on the work of the Steering Committee, recruitment activity, Silver City potential, availability of promotional literature, identification of social justice projects, report on the national CTA conference, implications for CTA growing out of Las Cruces Cathedral difficulties, and more.

Several members of the group will assemble again on February 7 at 5:30 p.m. at the home of Paul Mitchell and Genevieve Chavez, 700 Watson Lane, Las Cruces, for an informal home liturgy in the spirit of the early Christians.

The group is planning another general meeting on March 13, 1999, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the home of Janis McNamara, 1450 Avenida de Mesilla, #076, Las Cruces. A pot luck lunch will be shared.

 

Interesting Information from the Doctor of Ministry Program

By Sharon Pikula

I am in the second semester of my Doctor of Ministry Program at Barry University in Miami. After cramming 60 hours of class work into two weeks, I must admit the my brain in fried. But I hope periodically I can share at least a few interesting insights into our Church history.

I have been reading an article by Edward Schillebeeckx on "The Changing Concept of Ministry" (from roughly 7th century to 14th century). Sounds like a good article for insomnia. In fact, I thought a lot about our current Church as I read this article. My incorrect impression was that in the 7th to 14th century the Church ruled with consistent and absolute authority. I was pleasantly surprised. The gist of this article was to show how ministry did evolve based on economic, societal, and pastoral situations. Rulings just did not get handed down from Rome. It was quite the contrary. I have three examples.

Married Priesthood flourished for many years until roughly the 13th-14th century. But an interesting piece of trivia is the year 1010. Evidently the people thought that priests should be celibate (following the monastic movement that had been developing). One local bishop (Burchard of Worms -- in the area of present-day Germany) was insistent married priesthood was OK. He actually married priests. Our current hierarchy could take a few lessons from this period.

Priesthood of the Laity: This is definitely not a new fad. In the 12th century the laity was trying to be more involved in the Church by having a bible in the vernacular and by preaching. There were compromises but in a decree called Decretum Gratiani there is a provision for the laity to preach if a priest is not available, and if they are available they must receive permission. So this controversy has a long history.

Married Religious: Some of the Knights that were part of the Crusades belonged to religious communities and were married when they returned from the Crusades. Pope Alexander III made provisions to allow the religious to remain married.

Finally, there were the Cathers. Now we don't know much about this organization but they (according to the Church) were a heretical group that tried to reform the Church structures and worked for the equality of both men and woman -- does this sound familiar? My point in sharing this is that our Church has tried to respond to the pastoral needs of the People of God. Sometimes it has done well and other times it has been rotten to say the least. But no matter what century, when injustices are present, the People of God continue to find ways to be part of the Church where their spiritual lives are fed and they truly try to lead lives that are Christ-like. Our Church is not a stagnant institution with books of rules and regulations. Rather it is a journey -- where we as a community of believers try to find our way into the loving arms of God our Creator.


 

Meditation Corner

By Mike Thull

One of the more frequently used scriptural phrases these days (and rightly so, including usage at the national convention (is in Paul's letter to the Galatians, chapter three, verses 27 & 28: "lll you have all clothed yourselves in Christ, and there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus."

This is one of numerous phrases in the Scriptures that mean essentially the same thing, regardless of the process of interpretation.

While a significant part of the Scriptures can be interpreted to mean "fundamentally" what they say. there is a larger part of the Scriptures that needs to be interpreted scholastically and "en contexto" -- a particular phrase needs to be interpreted i the context of the sentence ahead of it and the sentence behind it, and the paragraph ahead of it and the paragraph behind it. In addition, it needs to be interpreted in the context of the "sitz im leben" -- the life and world situation in which it is written.

That having been said, let me give an example. A lot of people who wear religion on their sleeves like to talk the ten commandments. The fact of the matter is that the ten commandments are only a small part of the rules and regulations of the Mosaic law, which takes up several pages in Exodus, chapters 20 to 24. All of the stipulations are to be read as equally important. For instance, Exodus 22:15: "If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and sleeps with her, ... he must make her his wife." And 22:17-18: "You shall not allow a sorceress to live. Anyone who has intercourse with an animal must die." These, along with the rules of four other chapters, are no less important than their companion "ten commandments" in the Mosaic law. That was the times for which they were written.

Centuries later the Jewish rabbi Jesus came (in his words) "not to do away with the Mosaic law, but to fulfill the law." The Mosaic law is fulfilled by the new commandment, of which Jesus spoke when he said, "I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another." (John 13:34) In practice in the Christian context, the new commandment of love overrides (fulfills) the rules, regulations, and ten commandments of the Mosaic law.

It takes a scholastic and in-contextual interpretation (of which this is merely a skeletal overview) to show the dynamics leading up to the unveiling of the new commandment of love. But whether interpreted "fundamentally" or "scholastically and in context", the new commandment means the same: love Him, one another, and ourselves. Yes, the ten commandments are important, but not as important as the commandment of love.


 

Correspondence, Contributions, and Financial Report

By the Editor and Self-Appointed Treasurer

It was nice to receive correspondence and/or contributions from the following CTA followers since the last newsletter: Kathy Albrecht of Taos, Pan Bonneau-White of Las Cruces, Sr. Joan Brown of Sunland Park, Mary Helen Carroll of Albuquerque, Al Castillo of Silver City ($), Virginia Coupe of Jemez Pueblo and Albuquerque ($), Kathy Dahl-Bredine of Silver City, Pam Fraser-Walters of Albuquerque, Faye Gibson of Las Cruces ($), Ron Henry of Silver City, Rosemary Lessard of Santa Fe (beautiful silkscreen rendition of Vietnam pastoral scene), Msgr. Frank Murphy of Cuba (delightful two page letter), Kate Pelley of Las Cruces (rock of Las Cruces group, drives 220 miles to Albuquerque Steering Committee meetings), Mary Phillips of Las Cruces (thanks for Mission Statement suggestions), Sharon Pikula of Rio Rancho (continuing, dedicated, long hours of work for our "cause"), Paul Schneider OFM (regular $ and encourager), Catherine Stewart-Roache of Los Lunas (great email travelogue report), Sr. Jacqueline Sailer of Deming (continuing wisdom and support of Las Cruces group, drives a spell to get to meetings), Rev. Mark Sutton of Albuquerque, Marge Werner of Rio Rancho and St. Francis, South Dakota ($ and clear-thinking suggestion to distinguish between Mission Statements and Objectives) and Nancy (Anne) Zwolinski of Albuquerque (thanks for staying in touch via email).

Your editor thought it would be well to inform you of total financial support for the ten month period ending 12/31/99: We have received $855 from 37 individuals. Seven exceptionally kind people have given $50 or more apiece, some in multiple gifts. The remaining thirty have given $2 or more at various times. One sent a single postage stamp (gratefully accepted). The median gift has been $10 to $15. At the end of the year we had $202 on hand. This has diminished somewhat since then. Monthly costs include paper and envelopes (mainly provided by the editor), postage, and in recent months, the cost of duplication at a local stationery store. Thank you one and all!


 

Future Organizational and Legal Steps for CTA New Mexico

We are hoping that, immediately following the February 20 general meeting in Albuquerque, sufficient consensus will have been obtained on our mission statement. If so, there is no reason why the non-profit incorporation process with the State of New Mexico cannot be begun. Our mission statement will essentially serve as the "purpose clause" necessarily placed in incorporation documents. We will also need to seek out and gain commitments from persons who are willing to serve as the initial Board of Directors (BOD) of CTA New Mexico, whose names must be placed in the Articles of Incorporation. We don't "elect" this initial BOD. They are volunteers who will serve until the organizational process is complete. It is estimated that this process will take approximately 60 days.

While the incorporation process is going forward, we will need to continue discussing appropriate goals and objectives necessary to carry out our mission statement. These discussions will be carried forward by the Steering Committee and its successor, the initial BOD.

Next, we must file a Form 1023 with the Internal Revenue Service [Application for recognition as a tax-exempt entity under 501(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code]. Approval of this by the IRS will enable us to solicit contributions which will be tax deductible to the donor. Paul Mitchell CPA has graciously offered to assist us in this process (after tax season closes!).

Finally, we must apply for recognition with the National Office of Call to Action in Chicago for recognition as a regional affiliate.

So ... it is beginning to look like we are making it happen, folks!

So long until somewhere around the beginning of March.


 

Table of Contents


In This Issue -- John Wheeler, Editor

Mission Statement

February 21 General Meeting

January 18 Las Cruces Meeting

Interesting Information from the Doctor of Ministry Program -- Sharon Pikula

Meditation Corner-- Mike Thull

Correspondence, Contributions, and Financial Report -- Editor and Self-Appointed Treasurer

Future Organizational and Legal Steps for CTA New Mexico


CTA-NM Home Page


Webmaster: ebear@newmex.com