THE GOOD NEWS
ARCHBISHOP BELTRAN

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February 17, 2008

The Good News...

 ...Rite of Election

        Cathedral of Our Lady
February 10, 2008

My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

In the Name of Jesus Christ who is our Lord and Savior, I welcome all of you to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. It is a great joy to see so many of you gathered here for this Rite of Election.

Whether you are a catechumen or a candidate, whether you are a sponsor, a godparent or an instructor, whether you are a priest, deacon or layperson, you have come here today because you believe in Jesus and all that He has revealed and taught us. This is precisely what the Catholic Church is all about. It is about Jesus who is our Lord and Savior. Truly the Catholic Church is a community of believers in Jesus.  We believe that He established this Church and through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, He continues to watch over it and to protect it. The Church is the Body of Christ and we are His members!

In my years as priest and bishop, I have on numerous occasions visited various prisons. On one such recent visit, I was being led to the inmates when I overhead a policewoman say, “I want to meet the archbishop.”  Hearing that, I turned toward her, extended my hand and said:  

“I am Archbishop Beltran.” I don’t know why she really wanted to meet me since her surprising response was:  “I’m not a Catholic and I don’t go to church.” My reply was: “Well, you should go to church and find out what our Catholic faith is all about. You will be pleasantly surprised at what you discover!”

To you who are here today, I do not have to urge you to look into the Church. You have already done that.  But, as your archbishop, I do need to remind you and to challenge you.  When you become a Catholic, you must accept this gift of faith humbly, sincerely and gratefully. You must also commit yourself to live and practice our Catholic faith fully and completely because you will be a member of the Mystical Body of Christ.

The beautiful Gospel that was just proclaimed gives us a visible image to help us appreciate the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ. Jesus said:

“I am the Vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains in Me and I in him will bear much fruit because without Me you can do nothing.”

This short Scripture passage goes to the very heart of who we are as human beings and how we relate to Almighty God.  When we speak of God, we refer to the One who has no beginning and no end. God is eternal. While we cannot truly fathom this concept, we can accept it because God has revealed this to us. Moreover, this teaching is not contradictory as there must be a primary mover or cause of all else that exists. Jesus explains this to us in many ways when He uses absolutes and says: “I am the Way.  I am the Truth. I am the Life.” He simplified it when He says: “I am the Vine,” then shows us how we relate to Him — “You are the branches.”

The human being is made in the Image and Likeness of God but we are not God. We are His creatures. We depend totally upon God as Jesus says:  “Without Me, you can do nothing.”  

When human beings first sinned, we rejected the plan that God had established for us. We were like branches cut off the vine.  There was no hope for us for, without God, we can do nothing. But Almighty God, who is good and gracious, looked upon us with love.  He said, “I will send My Son and He will save you.” This promise of salvation was the Good News that suffering humanity could depend upon in its daily struggles against evil.  

This was the hope that faithful, loving people nourished for generations and even centuries. Then, at the appointed time, the angels proclaimed the Good News anew: “Behold, this day a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord.”

Jesus is the Christ. He is the Lord.  He is the One and only Savior of the world. It is He who offers us new life through the holy Catholic Church which He established. Thus to become a member of the Catholic Church is radically different than joining any other group, society or institution.  This is the uniqueness of the holy Catholic Church. While the Church is a community, an organization, a visible society, at the same time, it is, in the revealed plan of God, the Mystical Body of Christ.  The Church is Divinely established, sustained and directed.  Jesus is the Foundation and the Head of this Church. Therefore when, by the inspiration of God, we respond to His invitation and join the Church, we be-come not just members of a community but also members of the Mystical Body of Christ. This new and intimate relationship with Jesus is a communion, a coming together so that we truly share in His life and His love. It is through this unity with Christ that we receive the fulfillment of our human longing and nature.

Dear catechumens and candidates, I congratulate you for responding to the invitation of Jesus.  I pray that you will be devout and active members of the Catholic Church.  If so, I know that you will have life everlasting. May God who has begun this good work in you, bring it to fulfillment.