We see in the victory which God gave Jesus over sin and death, a pledge and guarantee of the ultimate victory which God will give us over sin and death. In the words of Scripture, Christian faith sees the Risen Jesus as ‘the first to rise from the dead’ (Acts 26:23), the first to be born from the dead (Col. 1:18, Apoc. 5) or as St. Paul puts it: ‘...the first fruits of all who have fallen asleep.’ (1 Cor. 15:20).

3.The Power of the Risen Christ Today

The power of God manifested in the resurrection of Jesus ought to be seen, not just as belonging to the past, but as present in our own lives and in our world. This Easter celebration invites us to open our eyes to His presence, to His victorious presence in our history.

Easter assures us of the ultimate validity of all our human hoping. It tells us that we have every reason to be hoping even against hope, that we should not at all be surprised that hope springs eternal in the human mind for, in the words of St. Paul ‘With God on our side, who can be against us.’ (Rom. 5:31)

Our Great Parish Mission which was conducted from January 4 - 13, 2005 and the Lenten Retreats just concluded, were meant to renew our faith and revitalize our parish communities. The Liturgical Symbols were used effectively to remind us of our spiritual mission. Again at Easter, the purpose of all the ritual is to open up for us the full meaning of the event which is being celebrated and to draw us as deeply as possible into it, so that our whole life may be a continuous Easter, with Jesus’ resurrection and our own resurrection at Baptism always present in our minds.

May this Easter help us to become first and foremost, a people of God, called to work where we are, to be rooted in this nation of which we are citizens, and to hand on to our immediate neighbours “this reconciliation” whereby God has reconciled us to Himself through Christ, thus becoming in truth and in fact ‘An Easter People’.

A HAPPY EASTER TO ALL.
Humbly
+Kelvin E. Felix
Archbishop of Castries

Archbishop Felix attends
Vox Clara Meeting

The Vox Clara Committee met for the seventh time from March 8-10, 2005 in the Offices of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in Rome. This Committee of senior Bishops from Episcopal Conferences throughout the English-speaking world was established on July 19, 2001, to give advice to the Congregation regarding matters of liturgical translations of Latin liturgical texts into the English-language, and to strengthen effective cooperation with the Conferences of Bishops in this regard.

The Vox Clara Committee is chaired by Cardinal George Pell, Sydney (Australia). Present at this meeting were Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb, Mobile (USA), who serves as First Vice-Chairman; Archbishop Oswald Gracias, Agra (India), who serves as Second Vice-Chairman; Cardinal Justin Rigali, Philadelphia (USA), who serves as Treasurer; Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Westminster (England), who serves as Secretary; Cardinal Francis George, O.M.I., Chicago (U.S.A.); Archbishop Alfred Hughes, New Orleans (U.S.A.); Archbishop Peter Kwasi Sarpong, Kumasi (Ghana); Archbishop Kelvin Felix, Castries (Saint Lucia); Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J., Halifax (Canada); and Bishop Philip Boyce, O.C.D., Raphoe (Ireland). Another member of the Committee, though not present at the meeting, is Bishop Rolando Tria Tirona, O.C.D., Prelate of Infanta (Philippines). In attendance were the following Advisors to the Committee: Monsignor Gerard McKay (Rome), Abbot Cuthbert Johnson, O.S.B. (England), Reverend Jeremy Driscoll, O.S.B. (USA), Professor Dennis McManus (USA), and Monsignor James P. Moroney (USA).

At the request of the Congregation, the Committee was provided a copy of the latest revision of ICEL’s translation of a selection of prayers from the Proper of Seasons in the Missale Romanum editio typica tertia. The members of the Vox Clara Committee noted the impressive improvements in the most recent ICEL

texts. The members also anticipate the significant assistance which the forthcoming Ratio Translationis will bring to ICEL’s collaborators.

The timely completion of an English-language edition of the Missale Romanum remains the highest priority and the members urged that all possible resources should be devoted to the expeditious completion of a vernacular edition which is at once precise in its rendering of the Latin texts and appropriate for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist in English. In this regard, the Committee welcomed a recommendation from ICEL, suggesting means by which the Congregation might facilitate a closer coordination between the work of Vox Clara and the mixed commission.

The members of the Vox Clara Committee were gratified to learn of the progress made in initiatives by which the revised ICEL translation of those liturgical texts presently held in common could be discussed with other Churches and ecclesial communities. The renewal and restructuring of the processes by which Conferences of Bishops and ecumenical bodies might collaborate in such endeavors was seen as highly desirable in the light of the instruction Liturgiam authenticam.

The Committee continued to examine style guides and other supplementary material for the Ratio Translationis. An extended consideration of such materials is scheduled for the next meeting of the Committee.

The members of the Vox Clara Committee expressed their gratitude to Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation, who met with the members and advisors of the Committee on the second day of the meeting. In particular, the Committee was grateful for the work of the recent plenary meeting of the Congregation and the reaffirmation by its members of the indispensable role of the recognitio in the effective implementation of the instruction Liturgiam authenticam.

The next meeting of the Vox Clara Committee is scheduled for July, 2005.

Year of the Eucharist
Archdiocesan Plan

1. The continuation of daily Exposition and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament throughout the Archdiocese in Parish Churches, Convent Chapels and Shrines as published in the Catholic Chronicle.

2. The continuation of Perpetual Adoration at the Cathedral Presbytery Chapel in Micoud Street, Castries.

3. A systematic study in every Parish of the Papal Document on the Eucharist: Mane Nobiscum Domine and the Antilles Episcopal Conference Pastoral Letter on Stewardship and Revitalization of Parish Life.

4. Sunday Adoration as is done in some Parishes or Sunday Evening Scriptural Devotions with the Blessed Sacrament Exposed.

5. Our Lady and the Eucharist:
i. First Saturday’s Pilgrimage to the Monastery at Coubaril.
ii. Forty (40) Hours Adoration at Bezata Community every month till October.
iii. Fatima Devotions at La Clery every 13th of the month from May to October.
iv. Saturday, 8th October, Northern Pilgrimage to Bois d’Orange Shrine, as planned by the Parish of St. Joseph the Worker, Gros Islet.

6. Seminars/Workshops on the Eucharist as planned and advertised by various parishes, including exchange of Pulpits specifically to promote better understanding and appreciation of the Eucharist.

7. Special catechesis for children in Catholic Schools during this year.

8. More elaborate plan to celebrate Corpus Christi (Thursday, 26th May; a day of Obligation and Public Holiday in St. Lucia), either on a Parish or Deanery level.

9. Monthly Processions with the Blessed Sacrament within the Parishes or Churches, e.g. on Holy Name Society Sundays.

10. Grand Closing of the Year of the Eucharist in October at the National Stadium.

11. Resources for the Year of the Eucharist
A special website containing resources for the Year of the Eucharist has been developed as a part of the Committee on the Liturgy webpage of the USCCB (http://www.usccb.org/liturgy). The Year of the Eucharist site includes a downloadable text of Mane Nobiscus Domine and other documents on the Eucharist. Resources for implementing the new Roman Missal, Prayers before the Blessed Sacrament and resources for adoration of the Holy Eucharist are also included.

Indulgences for the Year
of the Eucharist

Cardinal James Francis Stafford, Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary in Rome, has issued a decree dated December 25, 2004 concerning the granting of two plenary indulgences during the Year of the Eucharist for the following occasions:
• when the faithful participate attentively and piously in a sacred function or a devotional exercise undertaken in honor of the Blessed Sacrament, solemnly exposed or conserved in the tabernacle.

• when clerics, religious or others pray Evening Prayer and Night Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours before the Blessed Sacrament, even when it is reserved in the tabernacle.
The decree states that the plenary indulgences are received by the faithful under the usual conditions (sacramental confession, freedom from all attachments to sin, reception of Holy Communion, prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father).

Recognizing that there are many who because of sickness or other just cause cannot make it to a church to venerate the Blessed Sacrament, these people can be granted a plenary indulgence if they “make this visit to the Blessed Sacrament spiritually and with the heart’s desire … and recite the Our Father and the Creed, adding a pious invocation to Jesus in the Sacrament.”

Most Churches have already embarked on their plans for the Year of the Eucharist and this document provides another source of encouragement to a deepening of devotion to the Eucharist and making that devotion more vital in all communities.

In addition, the occasion of this decree gives pastors and liturgists the opportunity to emphasize the importance of the relationship of the Liturgy of the Hours to the celebration of the Eucharist, as described in Laudis canticum, the praenotanta to the Liturgy of the Hours:
12. The Liturgy of the Hours extends to the different hours of the day the praise and thanksgiving, the commemoration of the mysteries of salvation, the petitions and the foretaste of heavenly glory, that are present in the Eucharistic mystery, “the enter and apex of the whole life of the Christian community.” The Liturgy of the Hours is an excellent preparation for the celebration of the Eucharist itself, for it inspires and deepens in a fitting way the dispositions necessary for the fruitful celebration of the Eucharist: faith, hope, love, devotion, and the spirit of self-denial.

The Eucharist builds the Church

From the Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Pope John Paul II,Chapter V
“On The Eucharist in its Relationship to the Church”

“Mysterium fidei! - The Mystery of Faith!”. When the priest recites or chants these words, all present acclaim: “We announce your death, O Lord, and we proclaim your resurrection, until you come in glory”.

In these or similar words the Church, while pointing to Christ in the mystery of his passion, also reveals her own mystery: Ecclesia de Eucharistia. By the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost the Church was born and set out upon the pathways of the world, yet a decisive moment in her taking shape was certainly the institution of the Eucharist in the Upper Room. Her foundation and wellspring is the whole Triduum paschale, but this is as it were gathered up, foreshadowed and “concentrated” for ever in the gift of the Eucharist. In this gift Jesus Christ entrusted to his Church the perennial making present of the paschal mystery. With it he brought about a mysterious “oneness in time” between that Triduum and the passage of the centuries.

The thought of this leads us to profound amazement and gratitude. In the paschal event and the Eucharist which makes it present throughout the centuries, there is a truly enormous “capacity” which embraces all of history as the recipient of the grace of the redemption. This amazement should always fill the Church assembled for the celebration of the Eucharist. But in a special way it should fill the minister of the Eucharist. For it is he who, by the authority given him in the sacrament of priestly ordination, effects the consecration. It is he who says with the power coming to him from Christ in the Upper Room: “This is my body which will be given up for you This is the cup of my blood, poured out for you...” The priest says these words, or rather he puts his voice at the disposal of the One who spoke these words in the Upper Room and who desires that they should be repeated in every generation by all those who in the Church ministerially share in his priesthood.

6. I would like to rekindle this Eucharistic “amazement” by the present Encyclical Letter, in continuity with the Jubilee heritage which I have left to the Church in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte and its Marian crowning, Rosarium Virginis Mariae. To contemplate the face of Christ, and to contemplate it with Mary, is the “programme” which I have set before the Church at the dawn of the third millennium, summoning her to put out into the deep on the sea of history with the enthusiasm of the new evangelization. To contemplate Christ involves being able to recognize him wherever he manifests himself, in his many forms of presence, but above all in the living sacrament of his body and his blood. The Church draws her life from Christ in the Eucharist; by him she is fed and by him she is enlightened. The Eucharist is both a mystery of faith and a “mystery of light”. Whenever the Church celebrates the Eucharist, the faithful can in some way relive the experience of the two disciples on the road to Ernmaus: “their eyes were opened and they recognized him” (Lk 24: 31).

Eucharist and Solidarity with the Poor

From Bishop Gabriel Malzaire’s Doctoral Thesis in Sacred Theology, Rome 2000, Chapter V
‘The insights of Paul VI on Eucharistic Orthopaxy as a Legacy and Challenge for Contemporary Catholic Theology

There are yet other biblical statements which challenge Christians to be authentic representations of the poor Christ who gave of himself totally so as to identify with those who were poor. Becoming such representations of the poor Christ entails viewing eucharistic grace as participation in a «sacrificial» community This means celebrating the sacramental sacrifice of Christ at the sacred liturgy and living it out existentially in social charity. In other words, the solemn-ecclesial encounter of Christians with Christ at worship finds its consummation in the spiritual-existential reality cult of everyday generosity. Thus, for St. Paul, whether his sacrifice took the form of almsgiving to the poor, preaching the Word, offering prayers on behalf of others or, fostering harmony in the Church, all are legitimate ways of expressing thanks-giving and praise to God through the cult of social love which is connected to the eucharistic liturgy of the Church. Furthermore, it seems impossible to honour the God who revealed himself in Jesus Christ without imitating the latter by existing of and for those who labour and are heavy laden.

St. Paul shows the close connection between the celebration of the Eucharist and the collection taken in the Churches for the poorer brethren: «Now about the collection for God’s holy people; [...] on the first day of the week, each of you should put aside and reserve as much as each can spare; do not delay the collection till I arrive» (lCor 16,1­2). St. Paul clearly indicates here that, when Christians assemble for the common eucharistic celebration, the needs of the poor should not be an after thought. Their needs must be considered as essential to the fulfil­ment of the obligation of Christians to contribute to the integral well­being of all the baptised Furthermore, bringing forward gifts for the poor at the eucharistic liturgy is a gesture which manifests the affinity between the God who is celebrated and who meets the physical and spiritual needs of all, and Christians who take responsibility for the temporal and emotional needs of those who exist with them in Christ In fact, one of the recurring themes in the writings of St. Paul is that poverty can be the source of surprising generosity to others. Again with reference to the collection to be taken for the poor he says to the Corinthians: «Next, brothers, we will tell you of the grace of God which has been granted to the Churches of Macedonia, and how, throughout continual ordeals and hardships, their unfailing joy and their intense poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part» (2 Cor 8,1-2). Since at the Eucharist, all members of the ecc1esial body of Christ come face to face with their own poverty, spiritual or material, this sacrament becomes for them the principal impulse to seek to enrich each other out of their own poverty. It is primarily in this light that the notion of the Church of the poor is to be understood: a poor community is compassionate and self-giving. Then
St. Paul goes on to speak of the blessings that come from giving: «God is perfectly able to enrich you with every grace, so that you always have enough for every conceivable need, and your resources overflow in all kinds of good work» (2Cor 9,8-9). Thus, for St. Paul, receiving the Lord in the eucharistic meal and giving of oneself to the poor are both facets of divine grace at work in the Christian community.

The bishops at Vatican II reaffirm the traditional teaching that in and through the Eucharist «men are invited and led to offer themselves, their work and all creation with Christ. For this reason the Eucharist appears as the source and summit of all preaching of the gospel: catechumens are gradually led up to participation in the Eucharist, while the faithful who have already been consecrated in Baptism and Confirmation are fully incorporated in the body of Christ by reception of the Eucharist». All participants in the Eucharist are entrusted with the task of preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. To do so they must offer themselves and all creation to the Father through Christ for the salvation of humanity. The Council further states: «this Eucharistic celebration, to be full and sincere, ought to lead on the one hand to the various works of charity and mutual help, and on the other hand to missionary activity and the various forms of Christian witness». Very strongly implied in this text is the attitude of selfless service to be given to the widest spectrum of those in the human community who are in any kind of need, and most especially the poorest and the most hurt.

The Bread and The Body: Part 1

(by Emmanuel Osman)

As we continue to celebrate the Year of the Eucharist and prepare for Jubilee 2006, I felt moved to reflect on: –The Bread and the Body—.

What do I mean by the Bread and the Body?

Perhaps, it means a willingness to be used as Jesus’ hands, His voices, His eyes, His feet, or His whole being. It may be allowing Him to use our bodies to make His presence known in a real way to us. Perhaps it means being part of a community where the neediness of each member becomes Jesus’ strength that we share with one another.

St. Paul in the letter to the Corinthians clearly states the importance and understanding of the Eucharist. In 1 Corinthians 10:17, he says, “Because the bread is one, we who are many are one body because we partake of the one bread—. I believe that the true essence of community, of Church is revealed in this statement. It is by this understanding that I will endeavour to equate the Bread and the Body with community –The Church—.

Every Sunday when we take our places around the simple altars, in our different parish churches, we make Christ the centre of attraction, the centre of our lives in the celebration of the Eucharist. When we receive the Body, Jesus comes to us with all His life and love. This means that we are united more closely with one another. You will agree with me when I say that the Church is an institution, which foster unity and love. Together as one Body of Christ, we pray with Jesus to the Father. We praise and thank God for the gift of His son Jesus. We ask Jesus for the graces that we need to love one another as He loves us. As Christians, each one of us is called to take that step in our lives to live Church, to continue to ask Jesus to help us give witness to Him and service to the Church.

As Church, we have to continue to realise that it is the living risen Jesus, raised above all human limitations and pains, who is present with us at daily Mass. He is not like a visiting official, but as our closest friend, not impersonally, but sharing an intimate meal, not condemning, but forgiving. This is the result of Church. On several occasions one loaf has been used at Mass. This, however, is to show that we are one and that we should all share in the one Body of Christ.

In addition, St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:13 said, “By one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” By these words we see that Jesus continues to make us into His people over and over. He does not start from scratch, each time. Therefore, it is fitting to say that at our initiation into the Church, we were brought into an already existing community, the Body of Jesus. When we partake in the Eucharist together, the Mass becomes the expression of a love already existing among us, nourishing and re-confirming that love. As we converge on the altar like spokes of a wheel, we make the visible Jesus today, His body. Only Jesus can give us the power to love and forgive each other, and so as we do this together at the Eucharist, we discover how much Jesus is in our midst.

Moreover, we are always encouraged to appreciate the Mystery of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and so we often experience His presence in our lives through the love of others in our church community. When we receive communion, we state our belief not only that this is the Body of Christ, but that we are the Body of Christ, since we all share in that one Body. I am most certain that most times we watch and listen as each member of the community says his or her “Amen”, when he or she receives communion. This watching and listening should lead us to think of the many instances in which other members of the community have been the Body of Christ to us.

In our lives, there are some difficult times when we feel most needy and alone. We often think of the brothers and sisters who have so generously reached out to others and us during these times. We must continue to see Jesus in our brothers and sisters, who continue to offer a sympathetic ear and a shoulder to cry on. It is very visible today, to say that the words of praise of our church leaders, especially our parish priest often lift our spirit just when our confidence hit a low. Therefore, through our needs Jesus reaches out to our priests, draws them closer, and asks them to help us know Him better. I believe that they continue to give to us their time, their voices, their efforts, and their love, to plant the seeds of faith that will require a lifetime of nourishment.

Page 2  Page 3 Page 4 Page 5

Archbishop | Caritas Antilles | Calendar | Catholic Chronicle
Chancery Departments | Education | Events | History | Institutions
Links | Mass and other Services | Monastery | Parishes
Seminary | Schools | Suffragans | The Bible | The Holy Mass

Home

Copyright ©2004 Archdiocese of Castries