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From Archbishop Donoghue|
Mass for Province Meeting |
Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude Dear Friends in Christ, I am very happy to be here with you today, as a result of the meeting of the bishops and priests of the Province which many of us are here attending. I wish to thank Bishop Boland and all the fine people of Savannah for extending to us such warm hospitality as we have been enjoying. Also today, I want very much to ask your prayers for the success of our conversations, because what we attempt to decide together on occasions such as these, has a definite and long-lasting effect on our plans for the future, and for all the Catholics in our area. Sometimes, especially as we become caught up with the responsibilities particular to our own positions or our own stations in life, we forget to stop and recollect the greater picture. This is not wrong, for truly, the Gospel operates most immediately in the ways we encounter one another from day to day, and in the ways we try to apply the teaching of the Gospel to the immediate needs we see around us - the cares of the elderly, the woes of the hungry and homeless, the anxieties faced by our young people, who have so many negative and destructive influences to avoid, and this list could go on and on. And thank God we have the Mass and all the Sacraments, from which to gain strength and to fill our depleted hearts with a good measure of faith and hope. We are so grateful to the Father in Heaven for hearing the daily petitions we bring before Him, and for granting us the grace to do His will in all the details of our life. But there is a larger structure, and a larger plan at work among us as well - it recognizes not only the actions of our lives, but also the accomplishments of all the saintly men and women who have proceeded us - it links us even to the angelic hosts of Heaven, who have from the beginning, lived on the love of God, and sung His praises without ceasing. We hear it in the Gospel today, the feast of Sts. Simon and Jude, when their names and the names of their brother Apostles are listed as those being chosen by Christ to first head His Church. And hearing these names we suddenly become conscious of the unbroken link that we enjoy with those earliest Fathers of the Church. And in the letter to the Ephesians, we hear of the supernatural dimensions of our Church, when St. Paul writes: You are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God. . . founded on the apostles and prophets, with Christ as the capstone. It is by living faithfully according to this grand plan, motivated by our belief in the Church and its divine origin, that we are able to contribute, in matters great and small, to the unfolding will of God on earth and throughout time. We are being built, as the Scriptures say, into the Temple of the Lord, so that His Spirit may happily dwell among us. For the bishops and priests gathered for this meeting, it is in how we live up to our responsibilities as leaders of the present-day Church, as successors to the Apostles and their first helpers. For the Faithful, the People of God, it is in how we take to heart the beatitudes, the Gospel commandments which should motivate and shape our daily lives, lives we desire to fill with the Spirit of God, the Spirit of love. As we continue now with our Mass, we should pray for one another - you for us, that we may know from the Holy Spirit, how and where to lead this Holy Church, and we for you, that your commitment may be untroubled, and your treasures justly appreciated, recognized and used for the glory of God and the health of His Kingdom. Surely, this cooperation is something desired by Jesus Christ, for He founded His Church upon Peter and the Apostles, whom we remember today, and He told Peter and his brothers, “Feed my lambs, feed my sheep.” May it be a part of the reckoning, when our days comes to stand before God’s judgement seat, that we did not miss the opportunity today, to renew that cooperation, and to pledge ourselves, once again, to live for one another, and to realize in one another, the love given us by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father. . . + |