Celebrating the faith

Today was a very diverse and enjoyable day. I had the privilege of being involved in a number of Church events today. This morning, we had the monthly pro-life Mass at the Cathedral. This Mass occurs on the 3rd Saturday of each month. There is a Mass and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Then the congregation walks down to the abortion clinic that is about a half dozen blocks away. At the clinic, we pray a rosary for the sanctity of life and often some of our trained counselors distribute materials to women entering or leaving the clinic. Then we process back to the Cathedral and have Benediction. It is a very powerful experience and monthly helps me to continue my vigor for the defense of life.

At 10:00 am, we had a Confirmation Mass at the Cathedral. While I didn't serve as deacon for the Mass, I did help in some of the set up. At the same time, at the seminary, Archbishop Naumann had the Mass of Installation of Readers. Both of these events ushers a person into a new stage in their faith. For those being confirmed, they complete the sacraments of initiation and are given the strength of the Holy Spirit to continue growing in their faith as young adults. For those being instituted as readers, this is the first official ministry given a seminarian preparing for priesthood. During the journey to the priesthood, a seminarian is installed as a reader, installed as an acolyte and then ordained a deacon. At Kenrick, a seminarian is installed as a reader at the end of his 1st Year, installed as an acolyte at the end of his 2nd Year and ordained a deacon at the end of his 3rd Year. This was the first step for those just completing their 1st Year.

This afternoon, I had the honor of serving as deacon for a First Communion Mass at Oak Hill School. Archbishop Naumann was asked to be the celebrant and subsequently asked me to serve as deacon for him - probably for the last time prior to his ordaining me. Bishops do not get to celebrate First Communion Masses often and so this was a special treat for him. I had never assisted as deacon at a First Communion Mass so this was a special treat for me too.

What was interesting throughout today was that, although these Masses were celebrated for vastly different reasons, they all revolved around the core of our faith - the Eucharist. At the pro-life Mass, the Eucharist serves as our model for life, specifically eternal life. At the Confirmation Mass, the Holy Spirit is called down to transform the bread and wine into the Christ just as the Holy Spirit is called down on those being confirmed to transform them into Children of Christ. At the Reader Installation Mass, the presence of Christ in the Eucharist is united to the presence of Christ in the Word that these newly instituted readers can now proclaim. At the First Communion Mass, these 2nd graders are able to receive the Body and Blood of Christ into their very selves for the first of what I hope is thousands of times throughout their life. All of these events were connected by the Eucharist and the unity of the Church. It was through all of these events today that we celebrated our Catholic faith - diverse and unique and yet all united to Jesus Christ. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 20:29 | link | comments |
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