TexLaMex, June 2006, Page 3
During the chapter, there was a meeting of young religious. Sister Lili Martinez and Sister Veronica Fajardo came to meet the younger religious of the Southern Province.
On the first day, there was a presentation on the history of Holy Cross ministry in the Austin area over the years. Father John Korcsmar gave a history of how Holy Cross came to Texas, founded St. Edward's University, and began to have parishes in what is now the Diocese of Austin. He also told the story of Father Patrick O'Reilly and the founding of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, Holy Cross's first Hispanic parish in 1907.
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| John makes a point. Isn't there a saying, "It takes two hands to tell a whopper"? | Lili makes a point on how Austin Interfaith organizing works. |
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| Esther Yacono, director of the C.A.M.P. program at St. Edward's. This program makes it possible for children of migrant farmworkers to go to college. Bro. Jesús Alonzo is a graduate of the program. | Sr. Ane Monica who works at Capital I.D.E.A. and Sr. Veronica Fajardo listen to the presentation on the work of Capital I.D.E.A. |
After the introduction of Holy Cross history in Texas, the group left for a tour of Austin. The first stop on the tour was San Juan Diego Prep High School. This school is "the school that works." Not only does it work well as a high school in educating young people, but it is meant to be a resource to less affluent students. The students all work at least one day a week; the earnings go directly to the school, greatly reducing the cost of education. There are a number of Holy Cross religious who have been teaching there this past year: Brother Patrick Sopher, Brother Howard Metz, Brother James DeTemple, Brother Matthew McKenna, Sister Charlotte LeBeouf, and Sister Stephanie Brignac. You can learn more about this school at http://juandiegoprep.org/.
After lunch, Esther Yacono, gave a presentation on the College Assistance Migrant Program, also known as C.A.M.P. This program provides tuition, room and board, and support services to young people who have worked with their families as migrant farmworkers. This program has helped thousands of students to be able to study and graduate from St. Edward's University. You can find more information about the program at http://www.stedwards.edu/camp/.
We then went to Capital I.D.E.A. in downtown Austin. This program currently is training 500 adults for jobs that pay a family wage. The program provides tuition, counseling, and other support services. Sr. Ane Monica Nguyen is a counselor there and has been very helpful to many, many students.
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The next day the young religious met and discussed
the need for vocations, what attracted them to Holy Cross, and what they
can do to prepare themselves for the future.
One of the things that was very important was that they felt the need for themselves to meet again. They need to know one another and be ready to build Holy Cross in the future. |
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| The young religious with the priests | Sr. Vero and Fr. John |
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| Next month: July 2006 | ||||||
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Last month: May 2006 |