A Tremendous Faith Experience
Great Jubilee Mission 2005

Archbishop Kelvin Felix and Fr. Patrick Woods CSsR (Provinmcial-Elect) seem well pleased with the mission. Fr. John Murray CSsR looks on.

It rained for thirteen consecutive days in St. Lucia, enough to wash away any event. It rained every day of the Mission, January 4th-13th. Yet, Catholic Christians were not perturbed. The crowds swelled each night. As one parishioner summed it all, “it was a tremendous faith experience!” From missionary to parish priest, from organizers to the ordinary person, there was one voice, ‘the amazing faith of the people.’ Many of the clergy were also struck by the number of confessions, especially of young people, and by the quality of the confessions. The great Jubilee Mission has truly blazed a trail for the celebration of the golden jubilee of the diocese of Castries in 2006.

The mission will be followed by the launching of the Stewardship and Parish Revitalization Process during Lent 2005. This is indeed a moment of renewal and spiritual awakening for the archdiocese.

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Message of
His Holiness Pope John Paul II
Lent 2005
Theme: “Loving the Lord...Means Life to you, and Lengthof Days”

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

1. Each year, the Lenten Season is set before us as a good opportunity for the intensification of prayer and penance, opening hearts to the docile welcoming of the divine will. During Lent, a spiritual journey is outlined for us that prepares us to relive the Great Mystery of the Death and Resurrection of Christ. This is done primarily by listening to the Word of God more devoutly and by practicing mortification more generously, thanks to which it is possible to render greater assistance to those in need.

This year, dear brothers and sisters, I wish to bring to your attention a theme which is rather current, well-illustrated by the following verse from Deuteronomy: “Loving the Lord ... means life to you, and length of days...” (30:20). These are the words that Moses directs to the people, inviting them to embrace the Covenant with Yahweh in the country of Moab, “that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord, your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him” (30:19-20). The fidelity to this divine Covenant is for Israel a guarantee of the future: “that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them” (30:20). According to the biblical understanding, reaching old age is a sign of the Most High’s gracious benevolence. Longevity appears, therefore, as a special divine gift.

It is upon this theme that I would like to ask you to reflect during this Lent, in order to deepen the awareness of the role that the elderly are called to play in society and in the Church, and thus to prepare your hearts for the loving welcome that should always be reserved for them. Thanks to the contribution of science and medicine, one sees in society today a lengthening of the human life span and a subsequent increase in the number of elderly. This demands more specific attention to the world of so-called old age, in order to help its members to live their full potential by placing them at the service of the entire community. The care of the elderly, above all when they pass through difficult moments, must be of great concern to all the faithful, especially in the ecclesial communities of Western societies, where the problem is particularly present.

2. Human life is a precious gift to be loved and defended in each of its stages. The Commandment “You shall not kill!” always requires respecting and promoting human life, from its beginning to its natural end. It is a command that applies even in the presence of illness and when physical weakness reduces the person’s ability to be self-reliant. If growing old, with its inevitable conditions, is accepted serenely in the light of faith, it can become an invaluable opportunity for better comprehending the Mystery of the Cross, which gives full sense to human existence.
The elderly need to be understood and helped in this perspective. I wish, here, to express my appreciation to those who dedicate themselves to fulfilling these needs, and I also call upon other people of good will to take advantage of Lent for making their own personal contribution. This will allow many elderly not to think of themselves as a burden to the community, and sometimes even to their own families, living in a situation of loneliness that leads to the temptation of isolating themselves or becoming discouraged.

It is necessary to raise the awareness in public opinion that the elderly represent, in any case, a resource to be valued. For this reason, economic support and legislative initiatives, which allow them not to be excluded from social life, must be strengthened. In truth, during the last decade, society has become more attentive to their needs, and medicine has developed palliative cures that, along with an integral approach to the sick person, are particularly beneficial for long-term patients.

3. The greater amount of free time in this stage of life offers the elderly the opportunity to face the primary issues that perhaps had been previously set aside, due to concerns that were pressing or considered a priority nonetheless. Knowledge of the nearness of the final goal leads the elderly person to focus on that which is essential, giving importance to those things that the passing of years do not destroy.

Precisely because of this condition, the elderly person can carry out his or her role in society. If it is true that man lives upon the heritage of those who preceded him, and that his future depends definitively on how the cultural values of his own people are transmitted to him, then the wisdom and experience of the elderly can illuminate his path on the way of progress toward an ever more complete form of civilization.

How important it is to rediscover this mutual enrichment between different generations! The Lenten Season, with its strong call to conversion and solidarity, leads us this year to focus on these important themes which concern everyone. What would happen if the People of God yielded to a certain current mentality that considers these people, our brothers and sisters, as almost useless when they are reduced in their capacities due to the difficulties of age or sickness? Instead, how different the community would be, if, beginning with the family, it tries always to remain open and welcoming towards them.

4. Dear brothers and sisters, during Lent, aided by the Word of God, let us reflect upon how important it is that each community accompany with loving understanding those who grow old. Moreover, one must become accustomed to thinking confidently about the mystery of death, so that the definitive encounter with God occurs in a climate of interior peace, in the awareness that He “who knit me in my mother’s womb” (cf. Psalm 139:13b) and who willed us “in his image and likeness” (cf. Genesis 1:26) will receive us.

Mary, our guide on the Lenten journey, leads all believers, especially the elderly, to an ever more profound knowledge of Christ dead and risen, who is the ultimate reason for our existence. May she, the faithful servant of her divine Son, together with Saints Ann and Joachim, intercede for each one of us “now and at the hour of our death.”

My Blessing to All!

From the Vatican, September 8, 2004
JOHN PAUL II



Editorial
And Now,
On To Stewardship

The Great Jubilee Mission is over. Everyone is still on a high. By all accounts, it was a good experience for the archdiocese, a genuine spiritual renewal. It was also a powerful example of collaborative ministry. Not since the Eucharistic Congress in 2000 has the Catholic Church in St. Lucia been so visibly united in purpose and direction, under the guidance of its pastor and shepherd, Archbishop Kelvin Felix.

True enough there was creative diversity. For example, some parishes worked as a deanery, as in the case of the Southern, Eastern and Castries deaneries. Others went solo. Some used a large tent, as in the case of Gros-Islet, while still others combined church and tent, as in the case of La Ressource. However, no matter what adaptation there was to local circumstances, there was a unity of purpose and a common message. Every mission followed the same themes and symbols (water, the bible, oil, bread and an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary). That was wonderfully church!

Now that the mission is over, we must move on collaboratively with the basic plan for Jubilee 2006. All of the build up to the mission was meant to situate it within the context of Jubilee 2006. The mission was never meant to be an isolated event, independent of Jubilee 2006. It was always seen as being followed by something else. From the beginning, Archbishop Felix made it quite clear that the mission would be followed by the launching of the Stewardship programme during Lent 2005. This was the reason why parishes were asked to send leaders to School of Liturgy 2004, where the Bishops’ pastoral letter on Stewardship and the Revitalization of Parish Life in the Caribbean was studied. This was the reason why a first cadre of home visitors was trained as trainers, to set in train within the parish an outreach movement inviting Catholics to “Come home for Jubilee.”
Since from the beginning, the plan was always that the mission would be followed by the launching of the Stewardship and Parish Revitalization Process in Lent 2005, then if we are to stay on track, this must be the moment for “Stewardship”. During the entire Lenten period parish priest and parish groups should try to get their teeth into stewardship. There can be study sessions on the Pastoral Letter on Stewardship from the Bishops of the Antilles. Parish Lenten exercises can be linked to the stewardship theme of a “Call to Penitence,” while reading and praying the bible can be done as part of the call to be “Stewards of the Word.” During Lent, also, parishes can begin to establish the stewardship central committee and its sub-committees for education, finance and talent/ministries.

Lent 2005, following upon the heels of the Great Jubilee Mission, gives parishes a good opportunity to build on the mission themes : “Called into the Family of God,” “Redeemed by the Blood of Christ,” “Reconciled and healed,” “Fed and sustained by the Eucharist,” and “Sent to give witness.” These are all profoundly Eucharistic themes and can be used to deepen the understanding of the parish as a eucharistic community called to stewardship of Time, Talent and Treasure. With a little effort and imagination, this can truly become a Kairos moment for the Church in Saint Lucia.

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