Re-Membering program takes step forward

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
Posted February 20, 2003

The Re-Membering program, which Bishop Daniel N. DiNardo has asked each pastor in the Sioux City Diocese to present to their parish, is designed to bring people back to the church and their faith after being gone for a while.

"The program itself is remembering church," said Deacon Fred Karpuk, who has been called upon by the bishop to help organize this effort. "It's an outreach by the Catholic parishes of Sioux City to inactive Catholics designed to help them take what seem to sometimes be very hard steps into the practices of the faith. By that we mean going to church on Sundays and receiving the sacraments of reconciliation and Eucharist, which would be the primary ways."

The actual program has not yet started this year, but Deacon Karpuk said parishioners are encouraged to seek out people who have been estranged from the church and invite them to enter this program.

"This is the evangelization period," he said. "This is a time when we ask people who are active to invite those who are inactive back. If they hear about the program themselves, they can come to the program or make themselves known to the pastor."

All of the parishes in Sioux City are involved, and the sessions will be hosted at Deacon Karpuk's parish, Blessed Sacrament.

The program will start March 2 with the pre-penitent period. This includes people telling their stories about hurts, wounds or problems that may have caused them to leave the church. Also during this time, they are given the opportunity to ask questions and make the decision to enter the credo program.

"The upside of the program is that we offer community, and that oftentimes is what people need - the support to make the steps easier," Deacon Karpuk said. "On Holy Thursday, we go back to church together, and oftentimes that is the first time they have received Communion in a long time."

The credo program and Lenten prayer is a five-week process where the people involved discuss different topics dealing with the creed. These topics include: God the father/ Jesus the son, Holy Spirit/ Mary our mother, one and holy/ Catholic and apostolic, sacraments (Eucharist/ reconciliation) and death-resurrection/ hell-purgatory-heaven.

"We probably average 8 to 10 people a year that come to the program," Deacon Karpuk said. "As far as the peripheral people, who are reminded about their obligation to go to church, there are a number who come back, too."

The discussions also include the Lenten prayer topics of blessing, anointing, laying of hands, sign of cross and peace, according to Deacon Karpuk.

"Remind people that Sunday is the Lord's day," he said. "That's what we are trying to promote this year - the idea that people have a responsibility to go to church. There are good reasons why, because we are celebrating some very important Christian beliefs - belief in the resurrection, belief in the day of rest and belief that it is the day that the Holy Spirit was sent to us."

Deacon Karpuk said the next step in the process is when the people receive the sacrament of reconciliation.

"The other side of it is just to have people come back into the church," he said. "To come back to the church, they don't have to go through the program. They can just go to reconciliation on their own and come back."

On Holy Thursday, the group goes through the ritual of reintegration into the church community. They participate in the Mass and experience the procession with oils, penitential rite or profession of faith, remembrance in prayers of the faithful and reception of Eucharist.

"By going to church, it is a supreme day of faith," Deacon Karpuk said. "It's a day in which people make a statement about their belief in Christ and everything that he stands for. Church law dictates that we go, but that's kind of taking it from a hard viewpoint. We should want to go because of those particular reasons."