Priest~ Ministry Within A\liderConcept Of Ministry ... [As a result of both a practical living out of Vatic.o "Furthermore, God has set up in the Church apos­ Council IPs theology of the Church and of the lait tles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, and the priest shortage, there is growing litemtw assistants, administrators, and those who speak and practice of many ministries in the Chwnch. Th in tongues" (1 Cor.12:27-31). priest has an important ministry within a wider con­ cept of ministries, as well as serve as an ennbler of "It is he who gave the apostles, prophets, evangel­ other people's ministries. It is hoped that this arti­ ists, pastors and teachers in the roles of service cle will encourage you to read more on this impo1ntant to the faithful to build up the body of Christ ti 11 issue. (NB-This article, written by Fr. Walter· Kern, we become one in faith and in the knowledge of appeared in PRIESTLY HEART newsletter, Janucry, 1~)] God's Son and form that perfect man who is Christ come to full stature" (Eph.4:11-13). The WORD of GOD "There are different gifts but the same Spirit; there MINISTRIES are different ministries but the same Lord; there Ministries: The plural noun is essential. It signi­ are different works but the same God who accomp­ fies that the Church of God is not built up solely lishes all of them in everyone. To each person the by the action of the official presbyteral ministry manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common but by a multitude of diverse [Continued pg. 3] good ... But it is one and the same Spirit who pro­ duces all thzse gifts, distributing them to each as he wills" (1 Ca-.12:4-11). NEW CHARTER PROPOSED -Fr. Jo$eph Allen, OP During this past year I have been working with the task force group members of our Dominican Family in preparation for and the facilitating· of our National Syposium forthe Family. I mentioned this in passing in my Open Letter d. January 1982 Torch-lites. I said at that time that our response to the call of the Master of the Order to partici­ February 28,1982- FatherJosephP.Allen, O.P. pate in National Symposia as well as Regional Group­ and a group of Dominican Laity and Friends are ings to participate in the International Symposium gathered for the celebration of the Eucharist at to be convened in Italy the week of April 11, 1983 the site of the Primacy of Peter, at Galilee, one was a serious challenge for all of us. This gather­ of the many highlights experienced by the pil­ ing does not require the presence of all members grim party during their sojourn which, as Grace of the Order, but requires representation from Vesper said, was ''a joy to follow in the footsteps each branch of the Family. What [ Cont'd <11 pg.2] of Christ in the Holy Land." NEW CHARTER [Cont'd from page 1] it does require The Master of the Order in his report to the of each of us is a spirit of prayer and participation Chapter of Quezon City [Dec. 1977] states t h ait by reason of our own reflection and local partici­ the idea of the Dominican Family is one ttiat has pation. given rise to great hopes within the 0 ytfer and The National Symposium was held during Easter week is expected to be a source of inspiration and cre­ ative development for the future. The fact that in Racine, WI with 60 representatives from all four American Provinces. These representatives included the notion, Dominican Family, has been widely fathers, brothers, nuns of our cloistered mon..'lstcries, accepted throughout all the branches of the Or­ laity and sisters of the third order. der would seem to constitute a special sign of the Spirit working in all those who profess to be In the General Chapter of 1977, the fathers express­ sons and daughters of St. Dominic. ed their concern for the ideals of the Dominicnn The branches of the Dominican Family are bound Family in the post Vatican II Church. They stated: together by a common name and by the common The Dominican Order must. at all times. both in apostolic and spiritual tradition which have their its life and in its work, be alert to the great au­ source in St. Dominic. They are bound together thentic movements of the dge in which it finds it­ also in that all serve, each in its own way, the self. This contemporaneous quality was a special missions of the Order [cf. LCO 141; Mc:rla!adeU'Ara}, # mark of the original vision of St. Dominic in found­ 224]. ing the Order, and imparted to it its original fa~·re and freshness. Today it is no less true that the The beginnings on a National level have opened up Order must reflect in itself the hopes, the legiti­ for our American Dominicans a task that will include mate values, and the rediscovered ideals of contem­ all members of the family. In fact, it will demand porary man, if it is to remain a vital [01·ce in the your own participation in local and regional meet­ spreading of the Gospel. ings which will be set up across the United States. Once these meetings, the locations and times, have At this time, the Order is confronted with two been established within our own provincial bound­ great ,noven-ents in th:! Chw·ch and in the wo,·ld-the aries, I shall communicate this information in Torch­ emergence of ihe laity as an indispensable element lites. It is hoped that all Dominicans will make every in the establishment of the Kingdom of God, and effort to attend one of these meetings. the more recent and constantly growing movem1mt towards the liberation of women and the t•ecog­ Contained within this issue of Torch-lites is the nition of their equality with men. Indeed, both of proposed text of a Basic Charter for the Dominican these mOvements are but a fulfillment of the WOI' dS Family [see page 4]. This text was drafted under of St. Paul: "There is now neither Jew nor Greek, the supervision of the Master with a number off Dom­ neither slave nor freeman, neither male nor female, inicans representing each of the branches of the but all are one in Christ" (Gal.3:28). family. Their names are listed at the end of the text. It will be noted that there was no lay Dominican in­ The Order of Preachers has in gemt anticipated volved in the draft text. This is not because one these movements both in its foundation and in its was not invited but rather that the laymen invitro more recent legislation. St. Dominic founded fit·st cancelled out just when the meeting got under way. a community of Nuns, then latet· the Bret h1· en; not long afterwards, in virtue of his inspiration Some fifteen members of the National Symposium groups of committed lay people were established, in Racine worked on the f,_~ction priestly arid lay some of whom remained as lay people, others of {raternities [3.2.4], secular institutes [3.2.5], as wellas whom began to live vowed lives in common. Het·e friends and helpers [3.2.6]. As a result of these efforts we see the beginnings of what will later be refer­ a revised draft of this section as well as other sec­ red to as the Dominican Family, an association of tions will be forwarded to the Master for present­ men and women, of clerics and of laity bound to­ ation to the International Symposium. gether by a common ideal, a common living inspir­ As you read over the text I would remind you that ation, and a common name: Dominican. Both the this is merely a proposal text and is in no way the Basic Constitution of the Order and the gen­ meant to be an expresion of absolute finality. As eral legislation of the Brethren call attention to the work continues in this area I will inform you of this idea of the Dominican Family, which was lived the progress. in a very intense fashion at the Congress of Missionaries in Madrid in 1973, and which finds Albert Barone and Marian Giacalone represented our its most explicit expression in the legislation of province at the National Symposium and will contin­ the General Chapter of Madonna dell'Arco. ue to work with me on the follow-up details. Mar­ ian was selected to be an alternate at the Interna­ Tcrch-lites [ISSN 0164-tJ087], the official Pubhtian tional Symposium. The elected representatives fran of the Daninican Laity, is published quarterly by the United States for the Bologna meeting will be the Daninican Fathers of St. Joocph Province. Se­ Eleanore Perkins from the Western Province and cond-class postage paid at Orlando, FL-Publishing Ruth Kummer from the Central Province. They win and Editing Office, 6026 W. Hatwcxxl Av., Orlando, FL continue to participate in meetings around the United 32811, and is printed at Colony Printers, 809Virgi.n­ States so as to understand better their role at the ia Dr., Orlando, FL - 32803. Bologna meeting. They will a1so participate in too FGS'IMASTER: Send address changes to Tcrch-/ites, annual National Dominican Laity CouncilM'eeting to 6026 W. Hatwcxxl Avenue, Orlando, FL- 32811. be held in Washington, DC in late October. It is through this forum that our province [Cmt'd pg.