diocesan anniversary

Rejoicing, Recommitting and Looking Forward

By Bishop Paul S. Loverde
Special to the Herald
(From the issue of 8/19/04)

Summer is a time of stepping back from the mundane, the day-to-day. Or at least we hope! We flee the beltway, our congested cities, or our towns, and go on vacation or retreat in an attempt to gain for our busy selves some semblance of perspective on and distance from the year passed. This past month, I saw a magazine article which captured this sense of mid-year reflection. It was entitled, "My New Years’ Resolutions, 7 Months Later." We reflect back on the year thus far, attempt to enjoy the summer vacation respite, and look forward with hope to the approaching fall, with its quickening of activities and its "back to school" days.

This past week, we gathered as disciples around the table of the Lord to step back, reflect and celebrate a joyous milestone in the life of our comparatively young diocese — our 30th anniversary — and look to the future. In the beautiful prayer written by Father Paul deLadurantaye for this occasion, our diocese finds three themes that we might, by extension, also consider adopting for our personal walk of faith: (1) "We rejoice in the good works" the Lord has inspired in our diocese; (2) "We pray that we may be renewed in our faith"; and (3) "We look forward in hope to what is to come."

We rejoice in the good works

My sisters and brothers, as I look around this diocese, I see a scene not far removed from the one recounted in the Acts of the Apostles: "And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking break in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people" (Acts 2:46-47). Yes, "glad and generous hearts" are giving Him praise! Our people gathered around the Eucharistic table are rejoicing in the good works the Lord has done for them.

The Acts account goes on to say that "the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47).

In our own diocese, nearly 1,000 men, women, and children were baptized or confirmed this year.

140,000 people were provided professional services by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington in the past 5 years.

35,000 children are currently enrolled in parish religion education programs.

The generosity of our diocese was evidenced in our recent capital campaign, Rooted in Faith ~ Forward in Hope, which resulted in $115 million pledged for many needs, including the construction of new buildings to better serve our parishioners and the establishment of endowment funds for Catholic school students and teachers, youth ministry, catechetics and Catholic Charities.

This year, the diocese was blessed with a new priest, Father Augustine Tran, the first Vietnamese priest to be ordained for the Diocese of Arlington. Next year we anticipate five ordinations to the priesthood for our diocese.

And while these numbers and statistics are impressive, they surely do not tell the whole story — the story of countless individual lives touched by the unseen acts of kindness, the unheralded words of comfort and the quiet prayers offered at our Masses and in the homes of the Catholics of this diocese.

We pray that we may be renewed in our faith, and we look forward to what is to come

My brothers and sisters, even as we reflect and rejoice, we pray to be renewed in our faith and to move forward in hope. As any parent of a growing family knows so well, with growth comes a deepening joy as well as responsibility. When a family is expecting, a room is lovingly prepared for the infant. The father’s and mother’s thoughts are continually drawn to the advent of new life in their midst. This is a tender time for the family — one in which the parents’ wonder at the new life taking shape can result in nothing short of conversion, a turning to Jesus Christ with greater love and obedience, a recommitment to their marital vows, and a deepened love for and service of one another, and of the child of God newly entrusted to them.

Today, the Diocese of Arlington is much like an expectant family. We have been blessed with exponential growth as one of the fastest-growing dioceses in the country. In this moment, will we turn with wonder and recommitment to Jesus Christ?

As shepherd of this diocese, I pray earnestly that in this hour of expectancy, we, the members of this diocese, sensing the Lord’s closeness, might recommit ourselves to be the Church God calls us to be in Jesus Christ.

It is breathtaking to look at the blessings of our own diocese — founded 30 years ago and now bursting at the seams with growth. With eager anticipation, we look forward with hope to the ways in which the Lord will work through us and in our midst in the coming years.

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