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Letter Of Advent 2005
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As customary, to start the Season of Advent, I send you this letter with the greetings and wishes of the Apostle St. Paul in preparation for the Birth of Jesus: ”May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace” (1Cor. 1:1) “Rejoice in the Lord always. The Lord is near” (Phil. 4:4). I also take this opportunity to propose the pastoral objective to guide our diocesan and parochial activities during the new liturgical year 2005-2006.
Likewise I like to invite you to give thanks to God for the Year of The Eucharist we have just concluded. The Synod of Bishops last October and the final document to be published by Pope Benedict XVI will surely be one of the valuable fruits of this year for the renewal of our Eucharistic faith.
The Eucharist and the Mission of the Church
One of the preparatory themes of the Synod was “The Eucharist and the Mission of the Church. The bishops saw in it the urgent need for the Church to return to the original mission of proclaiming Jesus Christ. Pope John Paul II spoke of a program of Evangelization, which has as center Jesus Christ, whom we must know, love and imitate, and that our way of evangelizing should be a continued renewal of enthusiasm, _expression and new methods (cf. NMI 29).
There is no doubt that in the Sacrament of the Eucharist we have the basis of a program of evangelization, because it proposes a way of life as a Christian; it unites us to the community to form a “Eucharistic culture” that leads us to give a more forceful testimony of the presence of God in the world (cf. MND 26).
The Eucharist might become customary, an act of devotion or reduced to a social event. A continued catechesis is needed to help discover anew the mystery of Christ which the Church celebrates and proclaims: We announce your death, O Lord, and we proclaim your resurrection. Come, Lord Jesus! (Acclamation 1).
At the conclusion end of the Holy Mass, the celebrant, acting in the person of Jesus Christ, commands the people to go and proclaim the kingdom of God. From this moment, the Eucharist must become a concrete program to make Christ present in the family, the barrio, the school, in an effort to construct a more just and solid world, and to fight against evil.
We are cooperators of God
The Gospel presents the kingdom of God in different comparisons: we are laborers in the vineyard, called upon to work in the different hours of the day (Mt. 20:1-16); we are servants receiving five, two or one talent respectively (Mt. 25:21-23); we are administrators of the goods God entrusted to us (Mt. 21:33-41. God calls us to cooperate with Him. In the first pages of the Bible, God said to the first couple: “Fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28). God chose the people of Israel to be a light and example for the other nations. Through them, other people will know and adore the Lord God. Hence, they ought to live according to God’s commandments and teach their children the law: “Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. Never forget these commandments that I am giving you today. Teach them to your children. Repeat them when you are at home and when you are away; when you are resting and when you are working” (Deut. 6:5-7). They transmitted the faith to the succeeding generation in words and more so in deeds.
Parents, principal educators of their children
With words and deeds, parents transmit moral norms and values to their children. They sow the seed of faith, hope and charity in their heart, and also all other qualities: compassion, goodness, humility, patience (Col. 3:12 ff). Parents build the foundation, and at the same time they are also educators at home, catechists to their children. They teach them to know and love Jesus; lead them in prayer at home and in church, so that they can show them what it means “to live a Christian life”. Hence the Church calls each family home a “domestic church”. In a Christian family, there are difficult moments, and so parents must learn to forgive each other so as to maintain peace and unity in the family.
But a Christian family does not stand alone. When parents choose a catholic school for their child, they must understand that the school complements their work with a broader catechesis and creates a more positive and Christian atmosphere for their child. The school must cooperate with the parents and with the parish in the preparation for First Holy Communion and Confirmation. But this does not mean that the parents cede to the school and parish alone their responsibility of spiritual preparation of their child. They must continue to guide the child to have a better Christian education.
Adult Catechesis on the Sacraments
Through this letter I urge you to focus your attention on the objective of the new pastoral year 2005-2006:
Let us renew our Christian life through evangelization of the family and
through adult catechesis based on the Sacraments of Christian Initiation.
The Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist initiate a person into his personal relationship with Christ and with the Church. They form part of the process of growth, in which parents must accompany their children with their faith and example. Of course depending on the age of the child, there are different forms to communicate to them. Side by side with the help given by the school and the parish, there are many ways with parents can avail of: explaining the Bible to children and young people, Catechism of the Catholic Church, the book of prayer, and above all, their active participation in the preparation of their child for First Holy Communion and Confirmation. As adult, it is not necessary for parents to know everything. But it is important that they remain faithful to the Lord’s call to share their faith and love as a couple and as parents.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, let each one assumes his or her responsibility, and let your talents produce fruits. A missionary pastoral program is necessary to announce the Gospel and to help discover the living personhood of Jesus Christ. A pastoral program aimed only to administer the sacraments is not sufficient; there is need to return to the adult catechumens program that makes the parish the center of evangelization and the family as the first responsible to transmit the faith to the children.
I take this opportunity to announce to you that our Diocese will be celebrating its Golden Jubilee, that is, 50 years of existence in the year 2008.
In 1958, the “Apostolic Vicariate” became the Diocese of Willemstad and Mgr. M. Holterman was installed as the first diocesan bishop.
I believe that for this golden jubilee (1958-2008), the best gift we can offer to God and to our local Church will be a diocesan missionary program that revives our faith and our “belonging” to the Catholic Church.
To Mary Immaculate, Patroness of our Diocese, we entrust this mission, and we ask her help, as the Star of Evangelization, to walk with us and show us the way to her Son Jesus. As a grateful community, we ask God’s blessing and strength to uphold and propagate with renewed enthusiasm the gift of faith we have received for so many years.
Your servant in Jesus and Mary,
______________________
Mgr. Luis A. Secco, sdb
Bishop of Willemstad
