Editorial

Following the Light of Christ

Posted

By now, you’ve looked through the Faith Lives special section that wraps the main news section of this issue. It was Catholic New York’s effort to show some of the ways the Catholic faith is lived in our archdiocese—whether at home, in the parish or in the wider community.

We hope you enjoy the stories and photographs that serve as snapshots of lives centered on Christ and His Church. That witness, of course, extends beyond the church doors into the world, an image beautifully evoked by Matt Schiller’s front-page photo outside Holy Name of Jesus parish on Manhattan’s Upper West Side during the annual Pilgrimage of New York this month.

This week we celebrate Catholicism’s holiest days, when Jesus laid down his life on the cross and then on the third day rose from the dead so that we would have the promise of eternal life with Him.

Many of us will be in the parish churches of the archdiocese, beginning with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, marking Jesus’ institution of the sacrament of the Eucharist. We’ll be there again on Good Friday when His Passion and death on the cross are commemorated. And then naturally on Easter Sunday when Christians across the world mark Jesus’ glorious Resurrection into new life with the Father, an act that forever changed the course of humanity.

If you were reading carefully, you’ll notice we left out one important piece—the Easter Vigil opening the celebration of Easter’s glory. For centuries, in fact, it was the Church’s only celebration of Easter.

Even now, it holds a very special place in the heart of the celebration. As many know, it is the time when the Church welcomes the catechumens and candidates who have been preparing to enter the Church or to complete their sacraments of initiation through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) in their parishes.

The Easter Vigil liturgy is the culmination of a long journey during which the new Catholics receive assistance along the way from sponsors and godparents who guide their steps in faith.

This year, participation in the various catechetical rites during Lent revealed that 1,330 people—and perhaps even a few more—across the archdiocese will join us as full members in the Church at the Easter Vigil. As their participation in the life of the Church elevates them, it also raises the full Body of Christ that is the Church. It makes us stronger, more alive and able to reach out to others who have not yet heard or do not recognize Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

This is also a good time to recognize those who bring the newcomers to a mature understanding of how Jesus is alive in His Church today.

We’re speaking of the sponsors, mostly lay people and many priests and religious, who work with the catechumens and candidates to help them understand the teachings behind the sacraments so that their “Amen” at the Easter Vigil is as strong a public and personal witness as possible.

It’s also a good opportunity to acknowledge the archdiocesan Catechetical Office, under the direction of Sister Joan Curtin, C.N.D.

The Catechetical Office does a fine job providing support and training for the important work carried out at the parish level in every region of the archdiocese. From directors and coordinators of religious education to the thousands of catechists that teach the lessons, those who participate in the catechetical ministry of the archdiocese are unsung heroes who perform their service very well.

Truth be told, all of us—clergy, religious, laity—have a stake in proclaiming the Easter message: He is Risen! Alleluia! Our hope and prayer are that we move past the shortcomings and the strife around us to every day build a Church worthy of the Light perfectly and completely expressed by Jesus’ life, death and Resurrection.

A joyous Easter to all!