THE GOOD NEWS
ARCHBISHOP BELTRAN
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November 22, 2009 The Good News... ...Ordination Homily Ordination of Deacons My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: It is with great joy that I welcome all of you here to Our Lady’s Cathedral for this ordination ceremony of permanent deacons. The history of the diaconate begins in the New Testament Scripture. The Apostles (The Twelve), impelled by a crisis, called together the early Church community and said: “Select seven reputable men to assist us.” When the seven were selected, they brought them before the Apostles who prayed over them and imposed hands on them. Thus the Order of Deacon was established. Here tonight, the archdiocesan community and the staff of our diaconate program bring me not just seven men of good repute — but 12! How blessed are we, the Church of this Archdiocese. How grateful we all should be to Almighty God. How good and gracious God is to gather us here together tonight for this sacred rite of ordination to the Permanent Diaconate. Let us rejoice, give Him thanks and praise Him forever! As I look out over this crowded cathedral, I cannot help but thank God for the great blessings He bestows on the Church of our Archdiocese. Therefore, I congratulate you, 12 chosen men of faith, for having heard and followed God’s call to become deacons. Also, I congratulate you, the wives of these candidates. During the course of your husband’s preparation for the diaconate, I have come to know you better. I realize that your inspiration, encouragement and support enabled your husband to come to this moment of ordination. Thank you and God bless you. To the parents, the children and other relatives of these deacon candidates and to their pastors, I say “thank you” for your roles of support and prayer. Before we proceed with the ordination ceremony then, let us reflect on the Gospel which you yourselves selected for this ordination Mass. While Jesus frequently used words to teach, He also taught by action and example. Instead of a long dissertation on the power of God, He restored to life Lazarus who had died, the widow’s son who had died and the centurion’s daughter who had also died. He showed compassion for the 5,000 people who gathered on the Mount of Beatitudes to hear Him. When told that the people were hungry, He blessed the few loaves of bread and fish and fed everyone with more left over than He began with! When challenged because He forgave the sins of the paralytic, Jesus reached down, took his arm and raised him up healed. It is no wonder, therefore, that when Jesus wanted to teach His Apostles about true service and ministry, He used actions and examples as well as words. Earlier and very clearly, He had said: “I have come to serve and not to be served.” In tonight’s Gospel, after washing the feet of His Apostles, He asks: “Do you realize what I have done for you?” He reminds them that while He is their Teacher and indeed their Master, which they acknowledged by calling Him Teacher and Master, He still reached out humbly and washed their feet. Jesus then said: “I have given you a model to follow so that as I have done for you, you should also do. Amen, Amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the One Who sent him. If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it.” The diaconate, from its very inception, has always been identified as a ministry of service. Not a service of gain or honor but a service of charity and love. It is a ministry that flows from the love of God or, as Saint Paul says: “The love of Christ drives us on.” This love of Christ urges us and fills us with zeal, for indeed the one who truly loves God also loves his neighbor. A man, responding to the Call of Christ and of the Church to become a deacon, must be a man of service. His service must be humbly and zealously performed. If anyone ever lacks this humility and zeal, it will be evident that love and charity have been extinguished in his heart. The humble, zealous man desires and strives to make God better known, loved and served. Tonight, you 12 men come here humbly and with zeal. Compelled by the love of God and the support of your families and the Church of this Archdiocese, you offer yourselves as ministers of service. I will accept your offer of service and pray over you, impose my hands upon you and ordain you deacons of the Church. But I must also remind you that the diaconate is not an end in itself. The diaconate does not magically transform you. Just as in the beginning of the Church, the Apostles sought reputable men to assist them in ministry and service, so do I tonight And, like Apostles, in calling you to service, I challenge you to be men of prayer, men of zeal, men of integrity. This you shall do by humble, faithful service which recognizes that love of God and love of neighbor are the only valid foundation for ministry in the Church. May every single one of you walk safely and securely on your pilgrimage of faith to life everlasting in heaven. In that mutual assurance of faith, we can now proceed with your ordination. May God bless you always. . . . USCCB Statement on Health This statement of Cardinal Francis George, the president of the USCCB, was approved by the body of bishops at the November general meeting. The statement makes it clear that the bishops’ efforts are based on principles and not politics. November 17, 2009 The U.S. House of Representatives has advanced major legislation to provide adequate and affordable health care to all. The Catholic Bishops of the United States have long advocated that adequate health care be made available to everyone. In an essential step, the House voted overwhelmingly to reaffirm the longstanding and widely supported precedent that no federal funds will be used to pay for elective abortions. In doing so, the representatives honored President Obama’s commitment to the Congress and the nation that health care reform would not become a vehicle for expanding abortion funding or mandates. The conference will remain vigilant and involved throughout this entire process to assure that these essential provisions are maintained and in-cluded in the final legislation. We will work to persuade the Senate to follow the example of the House and include these critical safeguards in their version of health care reform legislation. We also thank the members of the House who took this courageous and principled step to oppose measures that would force Americans to pay for the destruction of unborn children, and the Democratic leadership for allowing the representatives to vote on this amendment that protects the common good. In the national discussion on how to provide the best kind of health care, we bishops do not claim or present ourselves as experts on health care policy. We are not prepared to assess every provision of legislation as complex as this proposal. However, health care legislation, with all of its political, technical and economic aspects, is about human beings and hence has serious moral dimensions. Our focus is on the reality of families with children, the poor and the elderly, the mother carrying a child in her womb, those with limited or no means of access to doctors. Our Catholic commitment to health care picks up the pieces of our failing system in our emergency rooms, clinics, parishes and communities. All this undergirds our commitment that our nation’s health care system needs reform which protects human life and dignity and serves the poor and vulnerable: as a moral imperative and an urgent national priority. We remain deeply concerned about the debate that now moves to the Senate, especially as it will affect the poor and vulnerable, and those at the beginning and end of life. We will continue to insist that health care reform legislation must protect conscience rights. We support measures to make health care more affordable for low-income people and the uninsured. We remain deeply concerned that immigrants be treated fairly and not lose the health care coverage that they now have. We will continue to raise our voices in public and in prayer; we ask our people to join us in making the moral case for genuine health care reform that protects the life, dignity, consciences and health of all. Sincerely, |