Cardinal Hickey inaugurates diocese's Millennium celebrations

DEIRDRE C. MAYS

for The Miscellany

CHARLESTON In an inspiring Mass full of hope, faith and spiritual song, the Diocese of Charleston officially began preparations for the new millennium and the celebrations leading to the Jubilee year.

Cardinal James Hickey of Washington was the honored guest at the special liturgy, held Sept. 25 at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist celebrated by Bishop David B. Thompson and concelebrated by 30 of his priests and deacons. The Mass was inflected with a variety of music from Gospel to symphonic-sounding classic in English, Latin and Spanish sung by the diocesan choir.

The bishop welcomed the cardinal warmly saying he came to the diocese "from the heart and love of the Holy Father."

During his opening remarks Bishop Thompson related that Cardinal Hickey has had many ties to the Holy City and has been a friend to bishops of Charleston for a long time. He thanked him for the graciousness and support he has shown the diocesan leaders over the years saying that the cardinal was also a friend to him. He said the honored guest also shared a special relationship with Msgr. Sam Miglarese and made him what he is today. The diocesan vicar general attended and was later professor at the North American College in Rome while Cardinal Hickey was its director. The cardinal also holds positions of chancellor of Catholic University, director of that institution's theological college and is president of the board for the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

"I think Cardinal Hickey is our pastor of the day," Bishop Thompson said.

After the Gospel reading from Luke about the finding of Jesus in the temple, Cardinal Hickey spoke about his special bond to the diocese because of his deep regard for its first leader, Bishop John England, perhaps more deeply moved at the celebration with the use of the John England chalice. He referred to the accomplishments of that church leader and related how he would have helped the diocese respond to the challenge Pope John Paul II gave the world to prepare for the 2000th anniversary of Christ's birth. He quoted the bishop's first pastoral letter saying that the faithful in the Diocese of Charleston, like the people led by their first bishop so long ago, "should trust not in their strength, their health, or their riches; rather he urged them to trust in the Lord Jesus and to follow Him unreservedly."

From that letter the cardinal concluded that to prepare for the millennium Catholics should find a renewed appreciation for the gift of baptism by thinking, speaking and acting as Jesus' followers and fully participating in the life of the Church; find Jesus again in their adult lives and help others find him; and finally, work for the unity of the Church.

To maintain a close relationship to the Lord in the present and for the future, Cardinal Hickey urged people to take advantage of the Sacrament of Penance adding that, in response to the Synod, celebrations of the sacrament are planned throughout the diocese and are a source of "a second baptism," a God-given means by which the gift of new life in baptism is renewed, repaired and refreshed.

"Sinful attitudes and sinful habits may interject distance between ourselves and the Lord," he said. "We may find ourselves living as if the Lord Jesus didn't exist. When we make that discovery, we need to halt our journey and in God's mercy, return to the Church, there to seek the Lord Jesus in the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation."

He closed his homily quoting Bishop Thompson at the conclusion of the Synod saying: "The measure of the Synod's success will be the extent to which it leads to a deeper conversion to discipleship. The meaning of our baptism, the meaning of the whole Christian life, the meaning of all our collective ministerial efforts, all come down to a simple attempt to be faithful disciples of Jesus whom we recognize as the Christ."

Msgr. Miglarese closed the Mass saying it was the first in the line of many events leading to the Great Jubilee. He added that the spirit and life of Jesus Christ and the spirit and life of the Synod were those of hope and faith and that the faith of vision in the Synod was what "we grabbed hold of for the future of the church of Charleston."

A reception followed the Mass at the cathedral center.