From Archbishop Donoghue

Dear Friends in Christ,

Because we have faith, we are a people of hope. Because we believe that God has loved us, has sent us His beloved Son Jesus Christ, to suffer and die for our sins, we are able to put down our suspicious natures, and look forward, if not in this world, to a reward in the next that will surpass all our imaginations. In good times, this has enabled the true Church, the Catholic Church, to produce works of surpassing beauty and inspiration, for the benefit of all mankind. And in bad times, the faith and hope of the Church has given courage to the martyrs to die for the Faith, and countless other souls, to suffer hardship and depreciation for the sake of what they believed - for even in the worst of times, hope held out to those suffering heroes, men and women of faith, the expectation that God's reward for their loyalty would be even greater.

Where do we live today - are these the best of times? - are these the worst of times? If we look to history, I think we can all safely conclude that we are in neither. At the same time, we cannot hide our heads in the sand and refuse to see the truth about our own culture, about our own nation, about our own communities - that somehow, there has been a breakdown in those powers which once prevailed over the darkness - a breakdown in morality, in personal responsibility, in law and order, and in the ability of one generation to transmit to the next, those values and ideals which have fired the engine of faith for the two thousand years of our Church's existence on earth.

We may listen to the commentators - to the sociologists, to the journalists, to the politicians and pundits, and try to understand with them, the reasons that things seem to be, in so many ways, falling apart at the seams. We may try to find common solutions that might be applied to the problems of our institutions and the widespread inflation in the cost of basic services. And we may gather with educators and counselors and try to ferret out motivations that will lead our young people back into an understanding of personal worth, of respect for tradition, and a sense of respect for what they have been given, as they dash madly around, trying to find new things, new ideas, new gods to fill what they imagine to be the void in their lives.

But the words of St. Paul , heard in today's Mass, undercut all these futile gestures - the grabbing in the dark for the answers to questions that have but one answer. And the answer is what he has said:

For no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ.

The best thing we can do for our children, the best thing we can do for ourselves and the world we live in, is to hold fast to our faith and our hope, but also to let faith and hope move us to charity - to work, to good work, for the sake of Christ's love and for the sake of the love we bear one another. And how better can this love, this charity be expressed, than in teaching - in teaching our children especially, that the only foundation upon which one can successfully build life, is the foundation of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, whose life was the perfect and eternal example of the principles upon which we desire to live, the principles we desire to impart to our children - principles etched in our memories by the words of Micah, the prophet, in our first reading:

…to do right…to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.

Last October, on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi , you invited me to be here, to lend my support and blessing to the groundbreaking for the building we dedicate today. At that time, I summarized this project with these words:

"To plan a new building for education, to commit to its funding, and to see the project through to its end – these are all steps in a project that for us has its beginning in Heaven – a project that is born, because we have heard the voice of God say to us - here in our own neighborhood, here in Peachtree City – we have heard the voice of God say to us, 'My most beloved sons and daughters, build my church.' And today, we are answering Him, saying, 'Yes, Lord, we are here to do your will.' ”

Dear friends, for our children, and for the world we live in, let us be a beacon of faith and hope, a city set on a mountain, a light to lead home those who have wandered and who are searching for a way out of the darkness. Evil, Satan, and the terrible effects of original sin will be with us to the last day, but we have been given the power to fight these terrible forces, and to overcome them in our own lives. That power is the foundation upon which our lives are based, by our baptism - that power is the foundation upon which our Church stands, and stands without equal and without fear - and that power is the love and the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who died to save us. He moves to save us by coming to us in the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, when we receive His Body and Blood. And entering us, He magnifies His own power, and brings forth from us much good - much fruit from the vine, as He has described us in the Gospel, saying:

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

God has given the people of Holy Trinity Parish this new education building - may all who pass through its halls become greater believers and deeper friends of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and in the fruit that this vine will bear, for generations to come, may God forever be glorified.

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