ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Praised be Jesus Christ! Now and Forever!

Brother Priests, Deacons,
Dear Consecrated Men and Women,
Catechumens, Candidates,
Godparents, Sponsors, Families and Friends,

How good it is for us to be here this day. As we continue to celebrate the Year of Saint Paul with the whole Church, I welcome you to the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, the mother Church of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, for the Rite of Election and the Call to Continuing Conversion. I welcome especially the catechumens and candidates who have been recommended to begin their final preparation for reception of the sacraments of Christian initiation. God has implanted His call deep within your heart and you have responded "yes" to the marvelous power of God’s love. The seeds of God’s word have taken root in your lives as evidenced in your practice of prayer and service, and your desire to learn the teachings of the Catholic faith. Your spouses, pastors, catechists, godparents and sponsors have recognized in you a deepening conversion to the message of Jesus Christ and can testify to your readiness for reception of these sacraments. In the name of the Church, the Body of Christ, I will soon elect and call you to receive the sacraments of Christian initiation at the Easter Vigil or during the Easter time. This Rite, therefore, marks a significant and sacred moment in your journey of faith. Now as God’s chosen ones you will be sustained by your faith, and with the support of your local community you will continue to walk with Christ.

On Ash Wednesday, we set out upon a Lenten journey of 40 days, which culminates in the sacred Triduum celebrating the institution of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the Passion, Death, and glorious Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In our first reading, God promises Noah and his family that he would establish a covenant with them, calling them to righteousness and faithfulness. This covenant of God’s own fidelity is signified by the multi-colored rainbow in the sky, which is a reminder that God is always loving, trustworthy, and merciful. In Saint Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit into the desert, where He is tempted by Satan to take physical and spiritual matters into His own hands. In the desert Jesus places His trust in His Father for all His needs. This desert experience of Jesus reminds us that over the next forty days of Lent, and realistically over our entire lives, we too will encounter both the trials and joys of life. Like Jesus, we must place our trust in the Father’s love and mercy.

Lent invites us to turn away from sin and to be faithful to the Gospel, to deepen our relationship with God and the Church through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. For you catechumens and candidates, it is a time of more intense spiritual preparation, a time of interior reflection intended to purify your hearts and minds, as it is for all Christians.

During the Lenten season you will participate as the Elect in the scrutinies and as Candidates in the penitential rites. These are meant to uncover, then to help heal all that is weak; to bring out, then to help strengthen all that is upright and good. Lent is your time to deepen your resolve, to hold fast to Christ and to carry out your decision and the Church’s challenge to you to love God above all.

I know, dear catechumens, that you are anticipating with great longing that night when you will be freed from the power of sin and baptized into Christ so as to be raised with Him to new life. Through the sacrament of Baptism, you will receive the dignity of adopted children of God, and made a new creation through water and the Holy Spirit. You will be called and will indeed be children of God. Through the sacrament of Confirmation, you and our candidates will be made more completely into the image of the Lord Jesus so that you may bear witness to Him before the entire world. And finally, when you all come to the table of the Eucharist, you will eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man so that you may have eternal life and be united with the Church, the Body of Christ.

Dear candidates, as you continue your journey of faith, we look forward to that day when you will be one with us at the table of the Lord. I assure you of my prayers and those of our faith community as you journey to the Easter Sacraments. Be at peace and continue to hear Christ’s call to daily conversion as you prepare to enter more deeply into His Paschal Mystery and promise to serve God faithfully in the Catholic Church. Remember that throughout all these days you will be accompanied by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the prayers of Mary the Mother of Jesus and those of the whole community of the Church. Amen.