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Tenth
Anniversary My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: While it is always a great joy to come to your church, it is a real pleasure today to be here for the tenth anniversary celebration of your parish. Some of you have been here for the entire ten years. In fact, several of you were the ones who petitioned and asked me to approve a separate Korean parish. At first I was not too eager to establish this parish as I felt it would segregate you from the other Catholics of our Archdiocese. Also, I felt there was no need for a separate Korean church since so many of you have been in the United States for years and understand and speak English. When I told this to your delegation asking “Why do you need a Korean church since you already know English?” the answer your people gave me was “Yes, Archbishop, we do understand English but when we pray, we pray in Korean.” That insightful response changed my opinion immediately. How could I stand in the way of your communicating with God? I immediately granted your permission and the search was on. You looked at several properties before you found this one which was first a Lutheran church. You purchased, repaired and paid off the debt. You now have a lovely church with other practical space to serve your Korean Catholic community well. I want to thank everyone of you for your part in helping to establish and develop your church as an active Catholic parish. I urge all of you to be sure to study the teachings of the Catholic Church and to practice the fullness of our Catholic faith and always continue to talk (pray) to God – sometimes in Korean and sometimes in English. Today at this anniversary celebration, we begin the holy season of Advent. This is a special time to remind us of the coming feast of Christmas, the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. We are called to prepare for Christmas by prayer and repentance. We must change from sinful ways to follow the plan of God more faithfully. Only His plan can lead us to everlasting life in heaven. God is so good. He is so gracious. He loves us totally and completely. Thus He gives us many gifts and graces and blessings in life. Among His many gifts are the seven sacraments. Today we are celebrating two of these sacraments. In the Mass which we are offering, bread and wine will be changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus which we call Holy Communion or Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Most Blessed Sacrament because the Eucharist is Jesus Himself. The other sacrament we celebrate today is Confirmation. Confirmation is a sacrament in which God sends His Holy Spirit into our lives. The six candidates who will be confirmed today will renew the promises which were made by their parents or their sponsors for them at the time of their baptism. Then through the imposition of my hand and the anointing with the Sacred Oil, each of them will be gifted with God’s Holy Spirit. What wonderful Catholic celebrations we have here today: the tenth anniversary of your church, the beginning of the holy season of Advent, the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and the conferral of the sacrament of Confirmation. Let us give praise and thanks to Almighty God who loves us totally and completely. Amen. Most
Reverend Eusebius J. Beltran |