Oct. 26, 2014 Issue (Click here for full issue)
RCIA Kansas
2014 Wedding Anniversary Mass (scroll down)
RCIA kansas
On Sept. 26-27, people from across Kansas that are involved in RCIA…parishioners, pastors, catechists, parish music ministers, RCIA team members, sponsors and godparents, DREs, and pastoral council members, met at the Spiritual Life Center in Wichita for RCIA KANSAS!
The purpose of the event was five-fold:
The purpose of the event was five-fold:
- Discover how RCIA forms missionary disciples
- Learn to apply core RCIA principles across your parish
- Acquire skills to form an evangelizing parish
- Master basic process for catechizing catechumens
- Understand key criteria for readiness to move on to next stage
2014 DiocesE celebrates Wedding Anniversary Mass
‘Today, I renew my commitment to you’
A celebration of commitment They came from across the diocese, many with children and grandchildren in tow, to celebrate the day they committed their lives to one another. On Oct. 19, Bishop Emeritus Ronald M. Gilmore celebrated the Diocesan Wedding Anniversary Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Bishop John Brungardt was on a pilgrimage in Mexico at the time of the Mass, but sent his blessings and offered a Mass for the couples at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. At the anniversary Mass, which preceded a dinner reception in which each couple was presented a certificate, Bishop Gilmore asked those gathered to recall their wedding day, and all those who took an active interest in the event. Following is the bishop’s homily in its entirety: Anniversary Sunday: 19 October 2014 Quando piensas en el pasado sobre “el dia,” debio de haberse parecido como todo el mundo estaba interesado en tu boda. When you think back on “the day,” it must have seemed that EVERYONE was interested in your wedding. The respective families were, of course, and the friends, and the members of the wedding party. The State was, of course, for the family is the building block of society. The Church was, of course, for the handing on of the Faith begins in the domestic church that is the family. The Pastor was, of course, for he is tasked with helping prepare you for marriage. The wedding planner was, the dressmaker was, the tuxedo provider was, the photographer was, the florist was, the caterer was: the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker, they were all there, passionately interested in your wedding, so filled were they with the look and texture of it, with the spectacle of it, that they almost crowded the two of you out of the picture. Pero ellos no hicieron tu matrimonio. They … did not … make your marriage. Not one of them did. Not all of them taken together did. They did not make your marriage. Tu … Las Novias, los Novios … tu hiciste tu matrimonio. You …You Brides, you Bridegrooms … you made your marriage. Take that very literally, please. Only one example will help you understand what I mean. That example is as filled with Mystery, as is your Marriage, for that example is God himself. You made your marriage in much the same way as God made his world. Tu has hecho tu matrimonio en mucha de la misma manera que Dios hizo al mundo. Fix your minds on that. Fija tu mente en eso. So, then, just how did he do that, how did he make a world, God? La Biblia nos dice que el dijo una palabra y habia un mundo. The Bible tells us that he spoke a word, and there was a world. There was a Word, echoing there inside the Silence of God, and, Behold, there was a World, a seeable, hearable, touchable vibration of that echo outside the Silence of God. Think of it. Piensa en eso. He didn’t have to do that. He didn’t need a world in order to be happy: he is God, he is already supremely happy. But he stirred himself, he gathered up the best that was in him, all the community of life that was in him (Father, Son, and Spirit), all the love that was in him, all the giving that was in him, and, for our sake, he compressed all that best into a single word. The Word was spoken. And the world was made. That’s what God did on Creation Day. That’s what you did on your Wedding Day. Eso fue lo que tu hiciste en el dia de tu boda. You spoke your word, and the world that is your marriage sprang into being. You gathered up all that is in you, the best that is in you (all your capacity to know and to love, all your capacity to be known and to be loved). You pressed that down, you compressed all that best into a single word, if you will, into a promise, into a vow, and in that word, you gave yourself away to another person, and forever. Apretaste lo mejor en una sola palabra, por ejemplo, en una “promesa,” en un “voto,” y en esa palabra, te diste tu mismo a alguien y para siempre. That word is what made your marriage. Esa palabra es lo que hizo tu matrimonio. You gave mind, heart, and soul to another person, and that overflowed into the two of you becoming one flesh, overflowed into the two of you making one life. All of you here today have done that, in varying degrees, with varying intensities, and with varying successes. In the name of the Church, and on behalf of Bishop Brungardt and all the priests, I thank you for it. The world that is marriage is threatened now, in new and baffling and insidious ways. Your own marriages are the best way of reminding the world of what God meant marriage to be. Be proud today of what you have created. Be proud today of your word, a little hoarser now, a little scratchier, maybe, a little weaker and short of breath, perhaps. Se orgulloso hoy y deja que la luz de esa palabra ilumine el mundo. Be proud today, and let the glow of that word light up the world. |