Fr. Barry Cabell chaired the meeting on restructuring.
The 2006 Southern Province Chapter
TexLaMex, March 2006, Page 3
The Southern Province gathered at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico for the first session of the provincial chapter. The main item on the agenda was the issue of whether we felt that it was time to close the province and become part of another province.
The entire Congregation of Holy Cross has been discussing the issue of re-structuring. There are some areas of the Congregation that are growing very rapidly. There are others which are having fewer people. For us, the issue began to be the question of having people to do the internal Holy Cross ministry: leadership, formation, vocation work, etc. A religious community needs to be doing these things--and doing them well--to continue to grow. After much prayer, reflection, and discussion over the last few years, we have decided that it is time for the our province to become part of another province.
Becoming part of another province means that the administration of our internal Holy Cross works will be done as part of another province. The works, such as parishes, that we have will continue as they are, but we will be with another province, with more people and resources for the internal works of Holy Cross.
We began the day with Mass in the parish church. We then had our meeting in the parish hall at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Reynosa. We chose to meet in Mexico because three of our temporarily professed did not have visas to cross the border. (One of our seminarians was turned down for a visa. He was told that he was too young, did not own land in Mexico, and was not married. They considered him as some one who is not likely to return to Mexico.)
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| The three men on the left were our musicians: Alfredo, German, and Paulino. | Brother Matthew did the first reading and the psalm response. | |
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| Fr. John reads the Gospel. | Some of the men "hard at work." | |
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| Fr. Len Collins chaired the meeting on formation. | Fr. Jeff Allison chaired the committee on finances. | |
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Fr. Barry Cabell chaired the meeting on restructuring. |
The 2006 Southern Province Chapter |
By way of footnote, the Holy Cross men from the U.S. stayed at a La Quinta in McAllen. The men from Mexico stayed in a hotel in Reynosa. The hotel in Reynosa had a buffet dinner--Chinese! Alfredo showed his adaptability by having a chop suey taco for supper.
