New Page 0

January 19, 2007

Shepherd’s Column

By Archbishop Daniel N. DiNardo

Last week I was privileged to direct the Retreat for some 70 priests of our archdiocese. Each year our priests are asked to spend five days in prayer, discussion and quiet to renew and revivify their priestly life and ministry. Three separate times in the year are set aside for this purpose though many priests travel to retreat house or monastery of their own choosing for this time of solitude. The Retreat that I preached was based on the mysteries of the life of Jesus. I particularly dwelt on his Baptism in the Jordan, the Temptation scene in the Synoptic Gospels, the early preaching of the Kingdom, the Transfiguration and the Bread of Life Sermon in Chapter Six of John’s Gospel. It was a wonderful experience for me as Bishop to be able to spend some time with a good number of our priests. I do hope and recommend to all of you that you pray for the priests and deacons of this local church. Their priestly and diaconal ministry among us is only successful if it is constantly being referred back to the Person of Jesus Christ. That requires constant intercession on the part of all God’s People. Further I suggest that more of our people avail themselves of the opportunity of a yearly retreat, either as part of a parish group, a family retreat or a personal day apart from our normal frenzied lives to allow the Word of God to address you during a time of quiet and solitude. More than ever the quality of our friendship with the Lord demands a time apart to rest with Him a little and to be refreshed by his call, as recorded in the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 11:25-30: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. (…) For my yoke is easy and my burden light.”

On Saturday, February 3 of this year, I will ordain 32 new permanent deacons for service in the Archdiocese. They have been preparing for five years and have made a major commitment to academic, human, pastoral and spiritual formation. Over the past few months I have interviewed each candidate and have also spoken with each man’s wife. These new deacons to be come from a variety of ages, occupations, ethnic heritages, even from various parts of the country, though all of them have lived in our area for some years. Their commitment to the Galveston-Houston local church is admirable. I have been impressed by their seriousness of purpose and their enthusiasm for ministry. Most will be assigned to parishes; a few will work in special ministries. Needless to say I am delighted to be able to ordain them. Deacons are ordained not to priesthood but to service; who they are as signs and images of Jesus Christ the Servant is as important and more important than the work they do or are assigned. I thank the new deacons to be, their wives and families, for their generosity.

In the name of the archdiocese I express my gratitude to these men for the commitment to the Sacrament of Holy Orders, a commitment that involves great joy and some anxiety. So please make your petitions known to the Lord on their behalf that the Lord may bless and sanctify their diaconate. Ask the prayers of the great Deacon Saints, St. Stephen, St. Lawrence and St. Francis of Assisi to give them courage. As always, the prayers of the Mother of God for all those in Holy Orders are a necessity.

I also want to express my gratitude to Deacon Gerald DuPont and his formation staff in the Diaconate Office, to St. Mary Seminary and the Theology Department of the University of St. Thomas and a host of others who are constantly preparing groups of men for the Office of Deacon. This is a major responsibility I have entrusted to Gerald and his team; there is great dedication and great seriousness, supplemented with humor, in this pastoral service of formation. May God bless all those involved in such a challenging apostolate.

January 22 is the infamous anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision of the United States Supreme Court, a decision that legalized abortion on demand in the United States. A few years ago the bishops of the United States declared that day to be a voluntary day of fast and abstinence to pray for the end of violations against the dignity and inestimable worth of the human person especially violations against the unborn. The efforts made by so many people of good will to change hearts and to change the law require constant prayer and repentance so that those efforts are purified and placed in God’s hands. In order to develop a pro-life mentality once again in our country, the lobbying and persuasion through written and spoken word, through ad campaigns and internet discussions, through personal and group witness , through efforts in the legislatures and court houses all need to be centered on the Lord and our witness to his love and compassion for every human person. I ask all the clergy, religious and faithful of this archdiocese to use the date of January 22 to pray and fast for the victory of life and the renewal of reverence and delight for each human person, born and unborn. I want to add a special word of thanks to many of our teenagers and young people; they are fast becoming the most pro-life group in the country! God bless their fresh and enthusiastic witness!!

This past Sunday night, we had a magnificent moment of recognition, a special Mass sponsored by our African American Catholic community. We remembered the life and witness of Dr. Martin Luther King and prayed that the Eucharist will make us aware of the dignity of the person of every race and nation and cause us to eradicate the scourge of racism from our world, our nation and our Church. I was privileged to be the main Celebrant of this Liturgy; Rev. James Goode, a Franciscan priest from New York preached the homily, a rousing and persuasive unpacking of the text of the Readings and of one sentence from one of Dr. King’s sermons: “All I want is to do God’s will.” Fr. Goode encouraged, consoled, challenged and cajoled us into understanding anew the meaning of the human person, the witnesses of great heroes who uplifted the souls of African Americans in this country, especially Dr. Martin Luther King, the dedication we owe to pro-life efforts, and the fundamental importance of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Body and Blood to ground us in any of our achievements in behalf of all people, especially the oppressed, the poor and the victims of bigotry. His message was positive, enthusiastic and infectious. I express the thanks of the whole archdiocese to Deacon Andrew Malveaux, Vicar for African American Catholics and to our African American Catholic community for this celebration.

Peace to all of you and blessings for a beautiful 2007!