Furthermore to your thought of serving more, maybe you’d also want to join other Church organizations in your parish. Joining these organizations is a good way to be in fellowship with others in the Church to deepen your faith and be of service to your community and God's Church.
In today's edition of Pahina 3, we would like to introduce to you some of the Church organizations in your parish, their foundation, mission and membership.
Foundation: The Legion of Mary was founded in Dublin, Ireland on 7 September 1921.
Objective: The objective of the Legion of Mary is the glory of God through the holiness of its members developed by prayer and active co-operation in Mary’s and the Church’s work.
Organization: The unit of the Legion of Mary is called a praesidium, which holds a weekly meeting, where prayer is intermingled with reports and discussion. Persons who wish to join the Legion must apply for membership in a Praesidium.
Activities: The Legion sees as its priority the spiritual and social welfare of each individual. The members participate in the life of the parish through visitation of families, the sick, both in their homes and in hospitals and through collaboration in every apostolic and missionary undertaking sponsored by the parish. Every legionary is required to carry out a weekly apostolic work in the spirit of faith and in union with Mary.
Membership: This membership is open to Priests, Religious and lay people who wish to associate themselves with the Legion by undertaking a service of prayer in its name.
Neocatechumenal Way - is an organization within the Catholic Church dedicated to the Christian formation of adults.
Foundation: It was initiated in Madrid in 1964 by Kiko Arguello and Carmen Hernandez as a response to the Second Vatican Council, and in 2008 was given definitive approval by the Holy See, receiving the status under Canon Law of a Public Juridical Personality.
Objective: Taking its inspiration from the catechumenate of the Early Church, by which converts from paganism were prepared for baptism, it provides a post-baptismal catechumenate to adults who are already members of the Church.
Organization: The Neocatechumenate is implemented in small, parish-based communities of between 20-50 people. There are around 40,000 such communities throughout the World, with an estimated 1 million members. It is implemented in the dioceses under the jurisdiction, direction of the diocesan bishop and with the guidance of the Responsible Team of the Way “according to the lines proposed by its initiators”
Activities: Deeply committed to the "New Evangelization" called for by Pope John Paul II, the Neocatechumenal Way is also responsible for 75 "Redemptoris Mater" Diocesan Missionary Seminaries, in locations as diverse as Rome, Karachi, Island of Guam USA in the pacific ocean and hundreds of "Families in Mission", which live in many of the most secularized cities of the World. According to its Statute, the Neocatechumenal Way “is at the service of the Bishops as a form of diocesan implementation of Christian initiation and of ongoing education in faith, in accordance with the indications of the Second Vatican Council and the Magisterium of the Church”
Membership: It is made up of a "post-baptismal catechumenate" (or baptismal catechumenate if the members have not received the sacrament of baptism), an ongoing education in faith and a service of catechesis. From the initial catechesis, it typically takes several years and passing through stages of faith formation in the local communities, until a member reaches the renewal of the baptismal vows (or the baptism).
The Block Rosary Movement - is the gathering of a group of families living in the same district or neighborhood.
Objective: To unite, not only the families visited by the Blessed Virgin Mary in praying the Holy Rosary, but the whole neighborhood as well as they are joined each week when the image of Mama Mary is brought from one family to the next.
Activities: Every evening they gather to pray the Rosary around the statue of the Blessed Virgin in a house for at least half an hour. Then, every evening after each prayer meeting, the statue is carried to the next house by candlelight procession and to the accompaniment of singing. Depending on the organizer, the "Block Rosary Movement" can be as simple or as ritualized. It could be prayed daily, weekly, monthly, or as discussed among the groups. Due to the distance of houses that request for Mary's Home Visitation, the statue will not be carried out every evening to a different house. The statue's visit will last one week per family.
Membership: Every Catholic family is considered a member as they are part of their community, and encouraged to participate during Mary’s visitation in the neighborhood.
Holy Name Society - The Holy Name Society is a fellowship of Catholic men whose primary objective isto beget due love and reverence for the Holy Name of God and Jesus Christ.
Foundation. It had its origin in the Council of Lyons, 1274, which prescribed that the faithful should have a special devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus, that reparation might be made for insults offered to it by Albigenses and other blasphemers. The Friars Preachers were preaching everywhere with the zeal of St. Dominic; it was natural, then, that Gregory X selected the Dominicans to preach the devotion, which he did by a letter to Blessed John of Vercelli, master general of the order, 20 September 1274 (Constit. "Nuper in"). The master general immediately wrote to all the provincials of the order, expressing the pope's wish, and enjoining upon all the duty of labouring for its fulfilment (Litterae Encyclicae Mag. Gen Ord. Praed., Reichert, 1900). The brethren gave their best energies in executing the command, preaching everywhere the power and glory of the Holy Name of Jesus; and to give permanency to the devotion excited in the hearts of the people, it was ordained that in every Dominican church an altar of the Holy Name should be erected, and that societies or confraternities under the title and invocation of the Holy Name of Jesus should be established.
Objectives. The primary object of the society is to beget due love and reverence for the Holy Name of God and Jesus Christ. The secondary object is to suppress blasphemy, perjury, oaths of any character that are forbidden, profanity, unlawful swearing improper language, and, as far as the members can, to prevent those vices in others.
Activities. Each month Holy Name Members meet to discuss liturgical issues and how they relate to events in the news and media and how they affect Catholic men. They also pray for the sick and deceased, and plan special activities for Our Lady of Mercy Parish and School. In recent years the men of the Society have used their time and talents to raise funds for many worthwhile parish projects. The Tom McHale Court of Dreams, new desks for Our Lady of Mercy School, candle votives for the Church, the sculpture of the extended Holy Family and more are all signs that the Holy Name Society is a vital part of the parish. Additionally, the Holy Name Society provides funds for Parish Services, The Youth Ministry, Outside Charities and more.
Organization: They attend Mass; Celebrate Communion together as a group on the second Sunday of each month at 9:00 am Mass, and hold monthly general meeting on the following Monday.
Knights of Columbus – called “the strong right arm of the Church”, it is the world’s largest Catholic family fraternal service organization
Foundation: On Oct. 2, 1881, a small group of men met in the basement of St. Mary’s Church on Hillhouse Avenue in New Haven, Connecticut. Called together by their 29-year-old parish priest, Father Michael J. McGivney, these men formed a fraternal society that would one day become the world’s largest Catholic family fraternal service organization.
Objectives: The Knights was formed to render financial aid to members and their families. Mutual aid and assistance are offered to sick, disabled and needy members and their families. Social and intellectual fellowship is promoted among members and their families through educational, charitable, religious, social welfare, war relief and public relief works.
Activities: The Knights of Columbus is active in making charitable donations and volunteer service hours such as blood donations and ‘Habitat for Humanity'.
Organization: The Supreme Council is the governing body of the Knights of Columbus and is responsible for the development of the organization as a whole. Supreme Council duties include establishing the Order in new regions and setting up regional authorities, defining and advancing its values and goals, undertaking organization-wide initiatives, promoting awareness of the Knights’ mission worldwide, and protecting the families of members through its extensive insurance program. Members working in local, or subordinate councils, however, carry on the majority of the Knights’ beneficial work.
Membership: Catholic men 18 years of age or older who join the Knights belong to a council, or local unit. Many 18 to 22 year olds first join the Knights of Columbus in a college council. Membership in the Knights of Columbus is open to men 18 years of age or older who are practical (that is, practicing) Catholics in union with the Holy See. This means that an applicant or member accepts the teaching authority of the Catholic Church on matters of faith and morals, aspires to live in accord with the precepts of the Catholic Church, and is in good standing in the Catholic Church. Members who have been in the Knights for six months and have attained Third Degree membership are eligible to join the Fourth Degree Knights
Resources:
http://www.kofc.org/
http://www.legion-of-mary.ie/
http://www.olmholyname.org/
