THE GOOD NEWS
ARCHBISHOP BELTRAN

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August 17, 2008

The Good News...

...School Bells!

With school back in session, I don’t know about parents, but I’m   sure most children are saying “How quickly the summer has passed!”  Indeed it has! The traditional school year has now begun and children of    all ages are back to the books, the computers and the schedule of classes.

School bells, like church bells, were designed to call people together to learn, to socialize and to pray. As instruments, bells have been an im-portant part of our cultural heritage.  Though bells have been replaced and villages and towns have grown to cities and metropolitan areas, the school year concept is still a valuable force in our lives. The school year brings us back together after a summer of travel and rest. It reminds us — not only children, but all of us, of the importance of learning. The need to study, to think and to mature must be ongoing.  As human persons we are always students!

In the religious sphere, we describe the purpose of our existence simply but profoundly, saying God made us to know Him, to love Him and to serve Him on this earth so that someday we could rejoice with Him forever in heaven.

In the above definition of the  purpose of human life, “to know” comes first. To know God! How can we know God? By ourselves, it would be impossible. But God in His goodness and graciousness has revealed Him-self to us in countless ways. This process of revelation was completed with Jesus. He came to show us God, to lead us to God, to share God’s life with us. Jesus came to bring us a new and abundance of life. He came to re-deem us from sin and made it possible for us to have life everlasting in  heaven. Therefore, in order to know God, we must open ourselves to that which Jesus revealed, what He taught and what He proclaimed as the Good News of salvation. This is the reason Jesus established the Church and instituted the Sacraments. This is what the Catholic Church is all about.

We who constitute the Church are a wide variety of people with diverse backgrounds. Some of us were baptized as infants because we were “born into a Catholic family.” Others joined the Church later as catechumens or candidates already baptized.  Through marriages, friendships and from other examples of right living, many have been introduced and brought into the Church.

Each of us in the Church is a unique individual. Yet all of us are united in faith. We believe in Jesus and we accept all that He has revealed to us. It is precisely because of this faith in Jesus that every single one of us has the serious fundamental obligation to learn, to study and to dis-cover the fuller meaning of our faith.  Only in this process of knowing Jesus can we love and serve Him.  Therefore, I extend a challenge to every Catholic person in this Archdiocese. I urge you to make a positive effort during this new school year to learn more about your Catholic faith. I invite you to listen to Jesus and His teachings. Do not take your faith for granted. Do not let your faith stagnate because of laziness or indifference.

What can you do? What should you do?

Next Saturday, Aug. 23, symbolically, school bells will ring for our entire Archdiocese. Next Saturday, representatives from every parish in our Archdiocese will gather at Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School. The staffs from our Archdiocesan Offices of Education and Pastoral Ministry and I will welcome your parish representatives to an exciting learning session.  There, through your parish representatives, we will introduce you to the many resources and opportunities that are available to you right now for your faith development.

Each representative will receive a copy of the Resource Manual for Faith Development. Our goal is not to give you a fancy folder. Our intention is to present to you and to every Catholic person of this Archdiocese a practical, useful instrument or tool for your faith development.

We want you to come to know,  love and serve God. We want you to participate in the remarkable and wonderful opportunities that are available for you and your families and your fellow parishioners right now here in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.

School bells are ringing. Church bells are ringing and I am inviting you to live the fullness of your Catholic faith!