BRINGING
UP THE GIFTS — Bishop Donald Bolen receives the
gifts from newly baptized Catholics (from left) Jennifer Morris of Holy
Spirit Parish, and Matthew Berry and Hannah Berry of St. Anne Parish
during a neophyte mass held May 11 in Saskatoon. (Kip Yaworski photo)
Neophytes
learning to see with eyes of faith
By Kiply Lukan Yaworski
SASKATOON — Newly baptized
Catholics who joined the church at this year’s Easter Vigil gathered
May 11 for a diocesan celebration with Bishop Donald Bolen held at St.
Anne’s Parish in Saskatoon.
Organized by the diocesan
director of initiation, Rev. Michael Koch, the Neophyte Mass also included
sponsors, family members, parish RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation
of Adults) teams and already baptized Christians who made a profession
of faith this Easter to become fully initiated members of the Catholic
Church.
The time after baptism, when
the neophytes or “newly planted” members begin to deepen
their understanding and experience of their faith life is known as mystagogy.
By some definitions, this is a period that formally ends for the neophytes
at Pentecost, but by other definitions it applies to our lifelong faith
journey, noted Bolen in his homily.
“Over the course of
our lives, we learn to make connections between our life and the death
and resurrection of Christ,” said Bolen, adding that there is
no reason to choose between the two definitions. “Pentecost brings
to an end this formal period of being received into the church, but
for the rest of your lives, you, like all the rest of us, are learning
to see with the eyes of faith, learning to see God’s presence
in our midst.”
The Scriptures include many
accounts of how an encounter with the risen Lord turns people’s
lives upside down, completely changing the horizon, Bolen described.
“It’s the difference
between two ways of living,” he said. It is “more rich,
more profound, more hopeful when suddenly you see life as ultimately
shaped by God’s presence among us, and you see your life with
all of its challenges and sorrows and joys within a larger context of
what God is doing with us. There is a new horizon open to us.”
In conclusion, the bishop assured the newest members of the church of the prayers of the community: “That you come to know ever more profoundly the mercy of God, that you come to know the joy and the hope and the peace which come from our faith, which come from the knowledge of being a child of God, being called by God, being carried by God, and being summoned by God to be a person who bears that mercy and justice and compassion to others.”
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