By Msgr. Kenneth Richards
In an atmosphere that was charged with expectation as with electricity, the presence of the Holy Spirit was truly felt as approximately two thousand four hundred (2400) persons gathered at Holy Trinity Cathedral for the Installation Mass for the Sixth Metropolitan Archbishop of Kingston, Most Rev. Charles H. Dufour, DD, CD. The Most Rev. Thomas Gullickson, the Papal Delegate presided over the Rite of Installation, and he was assisted by Archbishop Emeritus Most Rev. Donald J. Reece, DD, GCM., in seating the new Archbishop in his Cathedra.
Dignitaries present for the occasion included His Excellency the Most Hon. Patrick Allen and Lady Allen; the President of the Antilles Episcopal Conference, Most Rev. Patrick Pinder, Metropolitan Archbishop of Nassau Bahamas; Most Rev. Neil Tiedeman, Bishop Mandeville; Most Rev. Robert Kurtz, DD., Bishop of Hamilton Bermuda; Archbishop Emeritus of Kingston, Most Rev. Edgerton R. Clarke, DD.; Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, MP (representing our Prime Minister, Hon. Bruce Golding); Hon. Dr. Peter Phillips, MP (representing Leader of the Opposition, Most Hon. Portia Simpson-Miller); President of the Senate, Hon. Oswald Harding; Rev. Gary Harriott, General Secretary of the Jamaica Council of Churches; Rt. Rev. Alfred Reid, Anglican Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands; Rt. Rev. Howard Gregory, Suffragan Bishop of Montego Bay; Rt. Rev. Robert Thompson, Suffagan Bishop of Kingston; Members of Parliament; Members of the Diplomatic Corps; other Dignitaries; over one hundred & fifty (150) local and visiting Priests and Deacons; Religious Sisters and Brothers; Archbishop Dufour’s Family Members and overseas guests; the laity of the local church; well wisher; and members of the local media.
In a stirring homily that elicited periodic applause from the congregation, Archbishop Dufour, pledged to build on the legacy of his predecessors. His charge to the Archdiocese included the call for a recommitment in the following areas: to safeguard the dignity and sanctity of life from conception to natural death; to build on the efforts of his predecessors to restore Catholic presence and values in our Catholic Schools; to renew the value of family life as central to societal transformation and advancement. Archbishop Dufour also highlighted the importance of wholesome family life in facilitating the mission of the Church in building the Kingdom.
May the clergy, religious, and laity of the Archdiocese of Kingston respond to the charge of our Archbishop in making his charge to the Archdiocese a reality! All for the Glory of God!
zondag 19 juni 2011
Installation Mass for Most Rev. Charles H. Dufour: A most wonderful occasion.
Cardinal encourages 60 hours of adoration to celebrate Pope’s anniversary
Rome, Italy, Jun 17, 2011 / (CNA/EWTN News).-
Bishops around the world are encouraged to promote 60 hours of Eucharistic adoration for the sanctification of all priests, for new vocations, and for Pope Benedict XVI, who will celebrate 60 years as a priest on June 29.
Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, head of the Vatican’s Congregation of the Clergy, said this would be an ideal time to “gather around the pontiff and show him our gratitude, our affection and our communion for the service he offers to God and the Church.” Above all, he continued, it will show the commitment to “making the truth shine out in the world,” which characterizes his pontificate.
In his statement published June 16 by L’Osservatore Romano, the cardinal said the 60 hours of Eucharist adoration could be continuous or spread out over the month of June and should be embraced “particularly by priests.”
The statement was also signed by the congregation’s secretary, Archbishop Celso Morga Iruzubieta.
The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (the Day for Priestly Sanctification) would be an ideal day to conclude the Eucharist adoration, Cardinal Piacenza added.
Through this special initiative, the cardinal continued, “We could offer homage to the pontiff with an extraordinary crown of prayers and supernatural unity, that shows the real center of our lives, from which all missionary and pastoral effort springs forth, as well as the authentic face of the Church and her priests.”
The Congregation for the Clergy recommended meditating on biblical passages featuring the Apostle Peter, the first Pope. It specifically mentioned chapters 20 and 21 of the Gospel of John, in which the Lord asks Peter if he loves him more than the rest, and chapter 16 of the Gospel of Matthew, in which Christ tells him, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church.”
Pope Benedict was ordained on June 29, 1951, together with his brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, at the Cathedral of Freising in Germany, on the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.
Love within Trinity overflows into forgiveness for man, Pope says
Vatican City, Jun 19, 2011 / (CNA/EWTN News).-
The love that exists within the Holy Trinity overflows into the love and forgiveness for man which is manifested by Christ’s death on the cross. That was the message of Pope Benedict XVI in his Trinity Sunday sermon during his visit to the tiny European state of San Marino June 19.
“So, in the mystery of the cross, there are three Divine Persons,” he told the 25,000 strong congregation at the country’s Serravalle Stadium.
“The Father, who gave his only begotten Son for the salvation of the world, the Son, who carries out the will of the Father to the very end and the Holy Spirit - poured out by Jesus at the moment of his death - who comes to render us participants in divine life, to transform our lives, so that our lives are animated by divine love.”
San Marino is situated in the north-eastern part of the Italian peninsula and is one of just three independent states in the world to be completely surrounded by another country, in this case Italy. It has a population of only 30,000. Pope John Paul II also visited San Marino back in 1982. That visit was for just one day, as is Pope Benedict’s today.
“The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one, because God is love: the Father gives everything to the Son, the Son receives everything from the Father with gratitude, and the Holy Spirit is like the fruit of this mutual love between the Father and Son,” said the Pope describing the Holy Trinity – the Christian proposition that God is three persons but one divine nature - as the “first and greatest mystery of our faith.”
To illustrate the Holy Trinity’s mercy for man, the Pope drew upon the first Bible passage read at today’s Mass. It recounted the disobedience of the Jewish people who, after being led out of slavery in Egypt by Moses, wanted a golden idol instead of God.
“All seems lost, all friendship broken,” said the Pope.
“Yet, despite having committed the gravest of sins, God, through the intercession of Moses, decides to forgive His people and calls Moses to ascend the mountain once more to receive His law, the Ten Commandments.”
God then describes himself to Moses as “a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.” In these words, said the Pope, “there can be no clearer revelation” of the Trinity’s benevolence towards man.
“We have a God who renounces the destruction of the sinner and wants to show His love in an even more profound and surprising way right in front of the sinner in order to always offer the possibility of conversion and forgiveness.”
The culmination of this divine offer said the Pope, drawing upon today’s Gospel reading, is the incarnation of God-made-man in the person of Jesus Christ.
“The evangelist John refers to this statement of Jesus: ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life’.”
So while some may presume a God who would “come to judge the world, to destroy evil, to punish those who work in darkness” instead, said the Pope, “He shows He loves the world, He loves man, despite his sinfulness, and sends what is His most precious possession: His only begotten Son.”
San Marino claims to be the oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world. It was founded in the early 4th century by two missionaries, Marino and Leo, who were fleeing anti-Christian persecution in what is now Croatia.
The Pope noted how “Marino and Leo with their faith in God revealed in Jesus Christ, brought new perspectives and values to the local context, resulting in the birth of a culture and a civilization centered on the human person.”
And he urged the people of St. Marino to stay true to the ancient Christian faith of Marion and Leo.
“The temptation has crept in to believe that the wealth of man is not the faith, but his personal and social power, his intelligence, his culture and his ability to manipulate scientific, technological and social realities.”
“Thus, in these lands, the Christian faith and values have begun to be replaced with a presumed wealth, which in the end reveals itself inconsistent and incapable of containing the great promise of truth, goodness, of beauty and justice, which for centuries your ancestors identified with the experience of faith.”
Later on today the Pope will venerate the relics of St. Marino at the local cathedral before travelling back into Italy for a meeting with young people in the nearby town of Pennabili. He’ll then return to the Vatican by helicopter tonight.
