t eanc 0 VOL. 41, NO.7.
Friday, February 14, 1997
February 16, 1997 Dearly beloved in Christ, As Bishop of Fan River, I am asked occasionally to send a letter of birthday congratulations to, residents of our Diocese who are celebrating their hundredth birthday. It is a great joy to tender a note of good wishes and promise of prayer to these members of the "Century Club." The occasion evokes a spontaneous reaction of joy and good will when we hear about a member of our spiritual family who marks such a milestone. How great the joy and enthusiasm as we prepare to celebrate the 2000th Birthday of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior! The entire Christian world is poised to celebrate this important date, 2000 A.D. It is indeed for us "A.D.," Anno Domini, the year of the Lord. How can we celebrate this new millennium? Many beautiful ideas have been proposed over the last decade. One Dutch Catholic millionaire had pro.. posed launching H Catholic satellite that would transmit the Good News of the Gospel to the entire world. The Holy Father himself had hoped that corporate unity between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church would be achieved for the year 2000. These beautiful ideals seem beyond our capabilities, yet there is so much that can be done. The Holy Father in his Encyclical, "Tertio Millenio Ad"eniente" (liOn The Coming of The Third Millennium"), outlines a spiritual program of prepara-:tion for the millennium. According to that pro.. gram, 1997 is the year that we need to focus on Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, and on the Sacrament of Baptism. Lent offers us a wonderful opportunity to em.. brace these two t:h~:mes. First of all, it is a time when our Catholic people are most prone to make time and space for God in their lives, a holy time when we all try to relive the Paschal Mystery:. the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord. We do this by receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday as a public profession of our faith in Jesus Christ and our desire to be converted to His Gospel. It is a reminder that our time here is limited. We must make the best of the time we have. Lent is a Baptismal Retreat for those preparing to be received into the Church this Easter Vigil. Together with their sponsors, they will gather from all parts ofthe Diocese in our Cathedral on the First Sunday of Lent. TIlere, in the Rite of Election, each candidate for Baptism signs his or her name in the Book of the Elect as all declare publicly their intention to seek Baptism. At the same time, the Church envisions Lent as a time for all of us to renew the grace of our own Baptism. At the end of the spiritual journey of Lent, the Church invites us all to renew publicly our baptismal promise and then we are sprinkled with the Easter water that helps us to relive that crucial moment when we were baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. At that moment our life began. It was truly a spiritual birth, the beginning of a pilgrimage. Most of us were baptized as infants. I was seven days old
FALL RIVER, MASS.
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSEns CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
when my uncle, Father Jerry Reidy, a diocesan priest, poured the waters of the Jordan on my forehead. It was the most important day of my life even though I was quite oblivious to what was happening. Yet, without exaggeration, I can say that everything that has taken place after my Baptism
BISHOP SEAN O'Malley, OFM Cap.is the first to receive ashes as Father Horace Travassos makes the sign of the cross on his forehead. Many people attended the Ash Wednesday celebration at St. Mary's Cathedral Feb. 12 to mark the beginning of the season of Lent. (Anchor/ Mills photo)
•
514 Per Year
was conditioned by that simple ceremony that lasted about 15 minutes. A wag once said everyone has 15 minutes offame and notoriety. For us Catholics, our 15 minutes of greatness are just a preface to a wonderful ad... venture, a journey that leads to eternal life and to God. In the past, there was great emphasis on Baptism as the sacrament that washes away sin. This is somewhat forgotten today since, as Pope John Paul II once wrote, "We have lost a healthy sense of sin." We still need the healing and cleansing that Baptism brings. We also need to be born again of water and the Spirit. At Jesus' Baptism, the Trinity was made manifest. The heavens opened and the voice of the Father thundered out: "This is my beloved Son." At the Baptism of each and everyone - the Father declares: "This is my beloved son, this is my beloved daughter." At that moment, our Creator adopts us; we become His. His life of grace quickens our souls. From that moment in our lives we can truly call God "Our Father" and pray the Lord's Prayer confidently as sons and daughters. Our Lenten (Baptismal) Retreat ends with the Easter Vigil when we welcome Catholics into our Church. By the light of the Easter candle, we will renew our baptismal promises. We will rededicate ourselves to the Lord and His mission. We will embrace the cross of discipleship and pledge our.. selves to follow Jesus Christ as faithful members of His Church. Our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and works of mercy should help us to focus on our friendship with the Lord. It is a time to seek periods of solitude, to take the Gospels in our hands and read the glorious words and deeds of our Savior. They are words of spirit and life and can help reshape our minds and hearts. It is also an op.. portunity for us to be reconciled with the Lord and Turn to Page Two
"".---' "'~'.~~.
",,~
ASHES FROM these glasses were used to mark the foreheads of the many Catholics who attended the Cathedral's Ash Wednesday Mass. Blessed palms used in last year's Palm Sunday celebration were burned to produce the ashes used in this outward sign' of our faith. (Anchor/Mills photo)