April 20, 2008
Dear Parishioners,
What blessings have come to us by the Papal Visit of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI. I pray you will take advantage of the Homilies and speeches our Holy Father has given last week. They are easily accessible on the internet. The Church is very much alive in the United States. There is a growing awareness of the blessings of the history and tradition of the Church which is leading more and more people to become more active in practicing their Catholic Faith and in non-Catholics entering the Church.
Young people have seen the need for the study and living of an active Catholic life which is centered in the personal relationship with the Lord through an understanding and participation in the authentic Sacred Liturgy of the Church and the Sacramental encounters which the Lord offers through the Church. They are seeking the full, conscious, and active participation about which the Second Vatican Council reminded us and which is primarily an interior activity. The distinctive and beautiful nobility of the Liturgy and the Church is drawing them into personal daily spiritual lives which are of course religious. They are fed by coming to know Jesus as “the Way, the Truth, and the Light.” He the only Redeemer has decided to continue His redeeming work in the activity of His Church.
Fed with the Sacramental graces offered in the authentic Sacred Liturgy of the Church, the young are showing themselves to become active in the world through their living and working for individual and social justice. They begin this work with their personal daily conversion through their spiritual lives to which they are attending with devotion. They are becoming active in their parishes as good Stewards of the gifts God has given through the privilege of being in the Church. They are becoming men and women in the world but not of the world. And when they marry they are marrying in spiritual marriages and raising godly children. Their homes are homes of prayer and service to the Lord through his Church.
There is a good book referencing this trend: "The New Faithful: Why Young Adults Are Embracing Christian Orthodoxy" by Colleen Carroll Campbell. She will be one of the Speakers at the 4th Diocesan Eucharistic Congress – October 3 and 4, 2008.
Our seeking for the “Way, the Truth, and the Life” brings us to recognize Jesus as God. He is God Who comes to us in the Church to lead us to the Mansion He has prepared for us in Eternal Life. Let us work with diligence to achieve that salvation.
Please pray for Our Holy Father as he returns to Rome. How blessed our Country is to have been privileged to welcome this successor of St. Peter, the Vicar of Christ.
May God bless you and our Lady keep you in her tender care.
With my prayers,
Fr. Arnsparger