Fr. Tom's Page

Fr.Tom Fogarty, Superior of the Holy Family Institute

"Do not suppose that God has any need of our works; what He needs is the resoluteness of our will."

St.Teresa of Avila

Hello Everyone,

This is Fr. Tom Fogarty, superior of the Holy Family Institute in the USA. Welcome to the Home Page of the Holy Family Institute ! Our hope is to make this Web site as interesting, attractive and informative as possible. We hope that you'll visit us often and tell your friends about us.

Now that we have given you some information about the Pauline Family and the Holy Family Institute in particular, I'd like to go over a few important points with you.

You have, of course, no obligation to join the Holy Family Institute. But if you decide not to join, on no account think that this will make no spiritual difference. Or that joining one Church group is much the same as joining another one.

St. Paul said, "Be ambitious for the Higher things." Ambition is perfectly legitimate. In fact it is a sign that we were created to reach the highest goal possible; the possession and enjoyment of God Himself for all eternity.

Cana today

Suppose, for example, that you join the St. Patrick League (This is just an example. I don't know if there is such a League.)

The St. Patrick League will be a) glad of your membership and b) will send you regular mailings and c) will offer you many good ideas.

Now, the Holy Family Institute; suppose you join it. The Institute will a) be glad to have you and b) will send you regular mailings, tapes and an occasional video and c) will offer many good ideas.

And that's all ?

That is Absolutely Not all !

Membership in the St. Patrick League (or any one of the countless LAY organizations in the Church) allows you to work for the Church as a lay person. The prayer and the activity of the League are an expression of your Baptism, i.e. your Christian life. This is already a very good thing. But more is possible. MUCH more.

The Holy Family Institute, when you become a full member, allows you to work for the Church not only as a baptized person, but as a consecrated person; a vowed person.

What does this mean ?

St. Thomas Aquinas, the great doctor of the Church, explains it. He says that a vow is a promise to do what is pleasing to God. It is the directing and dedicating of what is promised directly to the worship and service of God. Therefore, he says, a vow is an act of religion.

The Marriage Feast At Cana

What is an act of religion ?

An act of religion is any action directed specifically toward God; a prayer, hearing Mass, receiving the Sacraments, going on a pilgrimage, fasting, giving an alms, etc. Good people perform such acts but only occasionally and what they do is visibly directed toward God.

But - and here please follow carefully - once you become a full member of the Holy Family Institute, then EVERY good thought, word and action of your day - Every one, and not just the ones visibly directed to GOD - IS AN ACT OF RELIGION.

That is the power of vows; That is the power of consecration. Your ordinary daily life in the Institute - no matter where it is lived - is vastly more spiritually valuable.

That has always been the real importance of the regular Religious life in convents and monasteries. We tended to think of Religious as being better than us because they were celibate and had made other sacrifices.

But that was not correct. What made their life spiritually better was NOT sacrifices, NOT self-denial. What made their life spiritually better was the special offering to God they had made, their decision that EVERY ONE of their daily thoughts, words and actions would be directed toward God, would be an act of religion, would be concentrated on Him.

Even when externally it was quite secular-looking - work in the fields, for example.

For all Church history up to this century, such a privilege was reserved to celibates. But in recent decades the Church has more carefully meditated on the life of the Holy Family of Nazareth and especially the life of the Divine Master. And she has begun to see that ANYONE can make a similar commitment, even living outside monasteries or convents and even people living the married life!

Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II

This is God's great gift to His Church in this end of the twentieth century. It offers to married or widowed people not merely one more lay organization (and there are many such for families ) but a NEW Institute allowing them to elevate their ordinary family lives, their regular conjugal lives, to heights limited only by their goodwill.

Joining any lay organization you remain a lay person. In the Institute as a full member you become a vowed, consecrated lay person. There is simply NO comparison.

Now, ..vows. Are these very restrictive?

Your question is a natural one. Almost everyone thinks that vows are useful because you "deny" yourself. But DENIAL is not what life is about and it is certainly not what vows are about.

Think of the word "de-vo-tion" - it gives the idea of special ardor or special commitment.

Now write that word again: "de- VOW-tion". Is this not an interesting insight? Interesting and very accurate. Because a vow is NOT a DENIAL of something but a superior and more intense commitment to a person or ideal.

And that is the REAL, POSITIVE meaning of your Holy Family membership! There are three vows and a special promise of fidelity to the Holy Father:

POVERTY - correct administration, observance of one's obligation to one's parish and to the civil authorities, assistance of the Institute - 5.00 weekly is sufficient to cover current costs.

CHASTITY - observing the law of the Church in marriage.

OBEDIENCE - begins in the home where spouses "love one another with mutual affection , outdo one another in showing respect" (Rom. 12, 10); continues outside the home in observance of Church and civil laws; is shown in the Institute by attention to the materials regularly received.

PROMISE OF FIDELITY TO THE POPE - involves nothing that a good Catholic does not already do.

In a word: membership in the Institute involves little or nothing that you are not already doing in living your Catholic married life.

Nazareth Today

But, can we talk of being spiritually better if there is little externally different?

Of course. ALL people think much the same thoughts, say much the same words and do much the same actions. What makes one life spiritually better than another is the spiritual situation of each person, NOT what he or she does.

And there is NO spiritual situation better than Holy Family membership. In the Church there are hundreds of Institutes. Most of these are for single men and women. One or two also ADMIT married people and widows in a secondary capacity.

The Holy Family Institute is SOLELY for married people or widowed people. It is the only one of its kind. It was definitively approved by the Vatican in 1993. It professed its first members in 1973 and its first Americans in 1988.

That is one point. But there is another. You will recall that the value of a human life is to be found in the motivation of that life (we have just said this, talking about the superior value of the consecrated life even though, externally, there may be little to differentiate it). In the same way, the value of an Institute is to be found in the basic motivation of that Institute, i.e. what are its goals.

From this point of view, the Holy Family Institute is again special. It is a branch of the Pauline Family (the international religious organization founded in 1914 by Fr. James Alberione). Now the goal of the Pauline Family is EVANGELIZATION.

Outstanding Paulines

Evangelization is not just ONE of the Church's goals, it is the principal one, the one without which the Church would cease to exist in a few generations! Therefore, through your membership in the Institute, you are taking part AS A MEMBER in the most important Church activity. Your prayers and ordinary daily life are a valid contribution to Pauline Family work, side by side with those of the Priests, Brothers and Sisters.

Can you afford to let this blessing pass you by?

Our Divine Master has opened a door for you: NOT the door to being a cooperator, collaborator or helper; NOT the door to anything except the door to a new and exciting Church development which you can join as a "founder member" (and such members always have more merits than those who succeed them).

Other people have heard the Divine call - and answered it! Decide to join them. A few times in your life, your decision can make a RADICAL difference to your future. This is one such time.

May the Divine Master bless you and those you love.

Would you like more information about the Holy Family Institute?

Be an

Contact:
Fr. Tom
PO Box 498
Canfield, OH 44406-9946

FAX:
1-330-533-1076
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E - Mail:
helmhfi@intersurf.com
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