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Dear Friends in Christ,

This celebration is a special gathering of all who were involved in the growing spiritual lives of those who entered the Church during the last cycle of our liturgical calendar. We look back upon the time of Advent, of the Christmas celebration, of the time of Lent, and of the glories of Holy Week and the Easter season, and we remember, in this first year of the Catholic lives of our neophytes - our new brothers and sisters - we remember what part we have played, in this unfolding of the Lord's will for each of us.

The teachers remember the task, but also the results, of their work, the instilling of the Faith, the opening of the door into the treasures of Catholicism - the sponsors remember the difficulties of being faithful companions, of being there week after week, to support and encourage, and to keep moving forward, the friend they agreed to help in this most demanding way - the teams remember the challenges of keeping all these efforts coordinated and progressing on the right track, and at the right pace - and the families of all involved, remember the cost, but now, the reward of maintaining a helpful and supportive spirit, a spirit worthy of the Lord's summons to His wedding feast: "Go out into the highways…and make people come in that my home may be filled."

All of this work, all of this sacrifice, all of this dedication has helped to bring about the miracle that happens when human beings cooperate with the will of God - the miracle that St. Paul speaks of when he writes to the Ephesians:

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ.

I cannot think of a more beautiful definition of Church than this - "you who once were far off have become near" - and I cannot think of a greater reason for us to fall to our knees with gratitude than that this miracle is brought about "by the blood of Christ."

It might be a temptation to think that since most of the work has been done - the year of formation, the acts of friendship, the rites and ceremonies of entrance into the Church - that now we deserve a rest, a time to sit and contemplate our accomplishments, to bask in the glow that comes after a job well-done. But this is not what the Lord expects us to do – He expects action, and to learn this lesson, we have but to listen to the Gospel of this Sunday.

The Lord has worked hard – preaching, healing, encouraging and visiting all the people – He is tired, and with His friends, desires to go aside, to some lonelier spot, and rest a while. But the people find out where He is going and in their eagerness, hurry to be there before the Lord and His Apostles. When He arrives, a large crowd is already gathered. He is to have no peace – no rest. But does the Lord turn on them with frustration or anger or impatience? – does He tell them to go away and come back next week? No. The Gospel says He “had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” And so He went right back to work – the work of sharing His love and care, the work of human compassion.

Today, the Lord asks us to look around, and to see, now and today, that this world is full of “sheep without a shepherd.” He asks us to take the power of the grace we have received, the grace that comes to us from the Sacraments – He asks us to take the strength that comes from being a part of His Church, His family – He asks us to put grace and strength to work – to bring His love and care to the sheep who need what we have already gained. And the Church, following the lead of her Lord, teaches us what we should do, teaches us the great actions of mercy, and of love: instructing, advising, consoling and comforting, forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently – those spiritual actions which enrich the soul and increase our personal holiness; and then, those concrete actions by which, with our hands, we attempt to bring to those in need, just a portion of the healing that our Lord was able to effect: feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and those in prison, and burying the dead – and above all, giving alms to the poor.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (#2447-2448), in this area, speaks not only to those newly received into the Church, but to all Catholics regarding the ongoing and never-ending obligations that we have to be charitable, to follow in the footsteps of Christ, saying: “…human misery is the obvious sign of the inherited condition of the frailty and need for salvation in which man finds himself as a consequence of original sin. This misery elicited the compassion of Christ the Savior, who willingly took it upon himself, and identified himself with the least of his brethren…”

And the Catechism quotes St. Rose of Lima , who said: “When we serve the poor and the sick, we serve Jesus. We must not fail to help our neighbors, because in them we serve Jesus” ( Catechism , #2449)

Dear friends, everyone who has been a part of this past year's efforts, the rite we call the Christian Initiation of Adults – every one of us has been extended an invitation to take up the ministry of Christ, and to bring His love, that force we call Christian charity, into the world. For the neophyte, it may be a new experience, a sailing out upon missionary waters never ventured before. For the sponsors and teachers, and those long grounded in the Faith, it will be a renewal – a reawakening of a spirit that perhaps has dimmed with time, but, by the grace of Baptism and Confirmation, is always waiting to flare up again, to become, under the power of the Holy Spirit, that sweet anointing from above, the fire of love that courses throughout the veins of the Church. But in whatever shape it takes, there is no doubt – Christ is using this Rite of Initiation to call us to His ministry - to the sharing of the love He brought among us, the love for which He died in order to make good its worth.

Let us pray now, that we will be worthy of Him, and of His Spirit, and that as new Catholics, or as old Catholics made new by this holy rite, we may bring into the world, the full presence of God's will, and the full force of the charity He has shown us since the beginning of time. “For God, who created man out of love, also calls him to love – the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being” ( Catechism #1604).

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