The words of this verse came to mind as we sat on the deck at the McClellan home for the meeting of the National Coordinating Team on Friday, September l4th.  Far removed from the horrors of September llth in New York City and Washington, we were in peace and beauty. This team is the "housekeeper" for Corpus, doing the chores such as seeking new membership, representatioin in each area of our country, and searching for ways to implement the aims and objectives of Corpus and/or find new ones.

The conference "In Search of Meaning" gave opportunityfor all to express opinions and be heard.  I chose to be in on the discussions of the Small Faith Community because we in Manitoba are trying to develop and build our small group.  In my youth, my father began to teach his children religion and the Bible and faith because we were too far from a church to be able to attend, especiallyin winter.  When our nearest neighbor heard of what he was doing she asked if her children could be included, and of course he welcomed them.  From there it grew to the point that on a Sunday afternoon, there wold be most of the 30-odd children from our school and their parents meeting in each other's homes and hearing the word of God.  A Small Faith Community that was my grounding in faith in God.

I believe that a small faith community that meets a need in its community will grow, and simplistically speaking, it only remains for us to find that need and meet it.  Easier said than done, it seems, judging from our experience.  I found the discussions on this topic interesting and practical.

But I ask myself if Corpus is narrowing its aims and objectives of working for acceptance in the Roman Catholic Church  of  a married priesthood, and the acceptance and ordination of women, to name4 but two of the changes that would seem to be needed.  Where are the champions for these changes?  Who is challenging the hierarchy to face these needs?

Is it a possibility that the work of building small faith communities could be done through outreach from a parish church, allowing Corpus to move on to actively promoting change?Change will take a lot of time but it seems that nothing is happening.  In the 33 years since Leonard decided that celibacy was not for him, the restrictions he could not live with are still in place.  It is the parishioners who have to survive without the services of a priest who need help.   What can Corpus do to help them?  If we don't do it, who will?