Dedication of the new Chapel and Bell Tower at Good Shepherd Church in Colleyville

Bishop Vann goes outside the Chapel and makes his way to where he
will be blessing the Bell Tower. Photos by Mike McGee

Homily for the Dedication of the Bell Tower and Chapel
Good Shepherd Parish
Colleyville, Texas

August 19, 2012


Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, friends all here at Colleyville,

        I believe that a traditional prayer for the Lord's Day certainly applies for us today: "This is the day that the Lord has made, Let us rejoice and be glad." We certainly rejoice and are glad today as we gather in this Eucharist to pray, and bless the new Chapel and Bell Tower. It is a sign of your generosity and faith that has marked this parish family from the beginning, and today which marks another chapter, another step, in the journey of Faith of this parish family. It is also a day of celebration of the entire family of God, this parish, in communion with the local Church of Fort Worth and the Universal Church. I would like to reflect this morning, for this occasion, on three senses: two of our natural senses (hearing and sight), and the supernatural sense of Faith, which builds on the others.

        The first sense is HEARING! Bells have for many years played an important part in our Faith. Perhaps in more recent years, they have been underemphasized but at the present time their use is rightly undergoing a revival, and you are part of that story. You may have seen the painting of the Angelus, in which the workers in the field stop what they are doing to pray... they have been reminded by the bells that God is present in their daily lives. Bells are even associated with the life of St. Francis in various legends and stories: They rang at the moment of his death, the custom of ringing bells is said to have originated from his visits with the Sultan, and on one occasion it is said that he cut the bells of the altar cloth of a parish Church in Assisi to give them to a poor woman! It is only “right and just” then that the custom of “Christening” bells should continue here with the names of Francis, Clare and Bonaventure! I have many happy and funny memories of bells in my own life. In my parishes of St. Benedict’s in Auburn and Our Lady of Lourdes in Decatur; In Assisi [where I would hike up to the “Rocca Maggiore” at sunset and here the evening Angelus ring all over the Umbrian Valley below]; St. Peter’s in Vatican City and all of Rome on Christmas Day and Easter Sunday; Tlaxcala, Mexico, on All Saints Day, where the bells ring for the Feast Day; and the colors of the home sang to the Lord and all the Saints! So, now your parish will have bells and when they ring, they will call you from the distractions and sometimes problems of daily life to remind you that the Lord has not forgotten you…stop and pray, and He will remind you of his love and his strength for you! The bells of your Church will now remind you as well that all of you are called out of the preoccupations of daily life to a reality far beyond ourselves: the mystery of the Presence of God, who is not “watching us from a distance” but is right here and now in our lives: in our families and the grand family of God that is the Body of Christ—the Church: here at Good Shepherd in union with the family of God that is our local Church, and the family of God that is the Church Universal. Bells call us to God, and call us beyond ourselves!

        The next sense is SIGHT! The addition of the Chapel and the Bell Tower changes the layout of your parish, and it changes the layout of this neighborhood. In fact, the horizon is changed, and is now more clearly defined by the Chapel and the Bell Tower. I like to remind our Confirmation candidates, especially those from a parish Church that can be seen from a distance, that their lives, like their houses of worship (the House of the Church) are to be visible and seen. Their commitment of Faith at their time of Confirmation is to change and define the landscape around them: the landscape which is the prevailing culture! So, too, for us here today at Good Shepherd: The new Bell Tower with the bells of Francis, Clare and Bonaventure, is a witness and a teaching moment for all of us as Catholics. Our lives certainly as individuals but more importantly as a community or a family of Faith, are to define and change and clarify the prevailing cultural landscape around us. In these days there are many challenges to our Faith and our freedom to practice and live out our Faith. It is more than just a freedom of worship. Your new Chapel with the layout of its roof over the place of prayer, and especially Eucharistic celebration, along with the Bell Tower, call us to clarity of vision and Faith that indeed God (the Good Shepherd) is here; here in our community and in our lives. We are thus called to make a difference in the world around us by clearly proclaiming and living the presence of the Good Shepherd in all freedom, love and truth. Like the layout of this Chapel and Bell Tower against the blue sky today, we are to be a clear proclamation of the Gospel to change and shape the landscape around us!

        Finally, there is the sense which builds on, and completes the others: FAITH! We have, in the Liturgy of the Word for today, the readings for the Dedication of a Church. This is very appropriate considering we also are celebrating the anniversary of the dedication of Good Shepherd Church, nine years ago! Like the stones of the Chapel and of the Bell Tower, we are the living stones who are held together by Christ. We “lean on,” complete, and support one another. Like the stones of this Church, we also are a statement that cultural forces cannot deter us, weaken us or erode us. Together, as the Living Body of Christ we witness in freedom and love to his Gospel which shapes and defines our lives. And, just as in the Gospel, He comes to visit us, just as He visited and stayed with Zaccheaus. We should then, thus, in the words of the second reading for the regular Sunday Mass for this 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, “Give thanks to God for everything in the name of the Lord Jesus” [the same Jesus who visited Zaccheaus] and sing to God from our hearts and our lives, like the new bells of your Church sing to us, and like the new outline of your House of God teaches us to do!

AMEN!

In many ways we are in a time of providential opportunity; to see and hear the presence of God, and to respond to that. It is a new time and a new age [we can learn from the last decades, but they are in fact history]. This new, exciting chapter in your lives, and the life of our Diocese is symbolized by the Bell Tower and chapel, who call us daily to be faithful friends and disciples and flock of the Good Shepherd, whose voice will echo out now more clearly in these bells, and in our lives here in this neighborhood.

Photos by Mike McGee

A cherry picker (also known as a boom lift or basket
crane) raises Bishop Vann up to bless the new
Bell Tower at Good Shepherd Catholic Parish
in Colleyville. Photos by Mike McGee

Barnum and Bailey arrive in Fort Worth

On Saturday afternoon, August 18th, I had the occasion to celebrate Mass for the Catholic members of the Circus troop who were part of the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, which had been in Fort Worth for a week at the Tarrant County Convention Center. This is the third time that I have been privileged to be present for the Catholic members of the troop and to celebrate Mass for them and to visit with them. Very special thanks to Sister Dorothy and Sister Bernard, Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart from Reading, Pennsylvania, who travel with the Circus to provide catechesis for the Catholic members of the troop, and who certainly witness to the presence of Christ to all the performers. The Sisters also train catechists as well, and are present for the religious and spiritual needs of the performers.

Celebrating Mass with the performers.

Bishop Vann with Sister Dorothy and Sister Bernard of the
Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart.

Thanks to the "Serrans"

        On Saturday evening, August 11, the Serra Club of Fort Worth hosted its annual dinner for our seminarians prior to the new school year. This event followed our annual seminary convocation at the Cedarbrake Retreat Center in the Diocese of Austin. This year we have 29 seminarians, from philosophy, pre-theology and theology. Approximately 20 were able to be present for the dinner, the rest having returned earlier for orientation preparation, finishing Clinical-Pastoral education, and also our seminarians in Rome and Mexico. This year we have 8 new seminarians with 13 inquires already for next year. Our seminarians are in formation for priestly ministry at the following locations: Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving, Texas; St. Joseph in St. Benedict, Louisiana, for philosophy; Assumption in San Antonio, Texas; St. Mary’s in Houston, Texas; Theological College at the Catholic University of America, The North American College in Rome; and the Seminario Hispano in Mexico City. A number of these seminaries, along with others in our country, now have waiting lists, and thus applications have to be in early. Our experience, like a number of other Dioceses, is that the trend for candidates is younger. When I spoke to all of them, I reflected that in some ways, this is a challenging time to be a priest, but it is also a time when the Lord is calling priests to be “saints and heroes” of the Faith, and that is their call. We thank the Serra Club for their generosity and for their help in building a "culture of vocations," and for the generosity of the people of the Diocese of Fort Worth in responding with giving hearts to help our local Church provide for their education.

Bishop Kevin Vann enjoys a congenial moment with seminarians
(left to right) Rijo Philip, Brett Metzler, Maurice Moon, and
Daniel Cochran during the Serran/Seminarian Dinner held
Aug. 11 at St. Patrick Cathedral in the new Pastoral Center.
Photo by Joan Kurkowski-Gillen

A group picture with the seminarians.
Photo by Joan Kurkowski-Gillen

Congratulations Jubilarians

        On Sunday, August 5th, I had the privilege of being present for the Jubilee Celebrations of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois. I had been invited by Sr. M. Michaela, OP, who taught me (and 59 other students!) at St. Agnes Grade School in Springfield, Illinois. This was Sr. Michaela’s 60th Jubilee of her profession of vows. The jubilee day included Sisters who were celebrating 75 years, 60 years, 50 years, and 25 years. It was a special day for me because it would have also been the 75th anniversary of profession of my aunt, Sister Margaret Sienna, OP. Two of her classmates were still living and able to celebrate! I had also been present 25 years ago with the 75th jubilarians (including my aunt who was then living) when they celebrated their 50th Jubilee, and the current 50 year jubiliarians had celebrated their 25th Jubilee. The picture here is taken after the Mass and dinner, and is with Sr. M. Michaela, Sr. M. Jeanine (who was my kindergarten teacher) and Sr. Kathryn Edward who taught me in 2nd grade!

Here is a link to their website with a very nice video/slideshow.
www.springfieldop.org/jubilarians2012

The program booklet from the celebratory
Mass for the Jubilarians.

Perpetual Vows

        Earlier this month, Sister Maria Rosario, OP, from Immaculate Conception parish in Denton, Texas, made her Perpetual Vows as a Dominican Sister of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Sister was one of 3 sisters who made their perpetual vows on August 1st. I was not able to be present, but congratulations and prayers to Sister Maria Rosario, her family, Mother Assumpta and the community of Sisters. We are very glad that you are in Texas [the Sisters are in the process of constructing a Priory in the Diocese of Austin] and that through your efforts in the Diocese of Austin, the mission of Catholic education in the State of Texas, and beyond, will be blessed. Below is a link to a news announcement on their website.

Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Communion in Faith: Gatherings Great and Greater

          Recently, at the Symposium that preceded the 50th International Eucharist Congress which was held in Dublin, Ireland, this past June, Cardinal Marc Ouelett delivered an address that was entitled The Ecclesiology of Communion, 50 Years after the Opening of Vatican Council II. In this address I found several quotes which can furnish a background for the latest entries on this blog post. Cardinal Ouelett said in one place that “The starting point of the ecclesiology of communion can be found in the first paragraph of Lumen Gentium: ‘the Church is in Christ like a sacrament or as a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race’ and “The oneness of the Eucharistic Body of the Lord implies the oneness of His mystical Body, which is the one and indivisible Church. This principle of unity leads to the openness of each community and of every particular Church to all the others that celebrate the Eucharist in the Lord.”

          These past few weeks I attended two gatherings that were miles apart, and very different in size: great and greater! Yet, both were visible expressions of the communion of Faith that we share, along with the words of Cardinal Ouellet. The first was the 130th Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus in Anaheim, California, and the second was a parish visitation at Sacred Heart Parish in Comanche, Texas. This parish is probably the farthest south and southwest parish community in the Diocese of Fort Worth.

          The Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus drew members, along with their wives and families, from all over the United States, Mexico, the Philippine Islands, Poland and elsewhere. Father Jonathon Wallis and I attended with a sizable delegation from Texas. Besides the main banquet dinner, with its national and international flavor, and the States separate dinners, we had the privilege of celebrating two very beautiful Masses with the music provided by their choir from the National Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. At the start of the business meeting, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson gave a well written and well delivered address that included, among other points, the life and vitality of the Knights of Columbus around the world, and the state of the question of religious liberty, especially here in the United States. The entire convention was a visible expression of ecclesial communion, most especially when all were gathered for the Eucharistic celebration: particular churches joined together at this Liturgy all singing and praying together with the Eucharistic Lord in their midst.

The Texas delegation to the Supreme Convention of the
Knights of Columbus in Anaheim, California

A picture from the States Banquet.

130th Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus:
Addresses and Homilies, Information, Pictures, Resolutions and More...

Homily of His Eminence Thomas Cardinal Collins, Archbishop of Toronto
at the Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention

Catholic News Service:
Challenges to marriage, religious liberty among Knights' top concerns

          We were welcomed in these days of celebration of Faith by the Diocese of Orange, California. The presence of Bishop Tod Brown, the Bishop of Orange, who was the principal celebrant for the Opening Mass, is an equally important sign of ecclesial communion. This Mass, in particular, reflects the words of Cardinal Ouellet when he said in his address that “Concretely she [the Church] subsists in each local community presided over by a bishop in communion with the college of the successors of the Apostles and its head, the successor of Peter.”

          A particularly enjoyable part of the days in Anaheim was a tour of the “Crystal Cathedral” complex which will be known as “Christ Cathedral” after the Diocese of Orange officially takes over the ownership of the Cathedral next year, as well as the various buildings and property. This can lead to a reflection on the importance of the Cathedral as a visible sign of the communion of the Bishop, the local Church and the Universal Church.

The Crystal Cathedral in the Diocese of Orange.

Another picture of the Crystal Cathedral.

The bell tower of the Crystal Cathedral.

          The following week, I began a series of parish visitations, which will continue into the months ahead, by celebrating Sunday Mass at Sacred Heart parish in Comanche, Texas. The congregation has outgrown this small Church, which was originally built years ago by the parishioners, and with the help of the Catholic Extension Society, I believe. The neighboring parishes in this rural area are in the Dioceses of San Angelo and Austin, Texas. The Mass was led by the children’s choir, as was a very joyful celebration in English and Spanish. This was equally an expression of ecclesial communion in a rural area of Texas, which was joined to its brothers and sisters in the Knights of Columbus, and their families just a week earlier. The community, under the leadership of Fr. Philip MacNamara, SAC, is planning and hoping now to build a new and bigger “House of God” to accommodate everyone!

The children's choir singing during Mass.

Parishioners coming up to receive communion.

With Gratitude to the Knights of Columbus

      Monday, July 31 — The continued vitality and growth of candidates for priestly formation was evident on Monday night at St. Vincent's in Arlington, Texas, when we gathered for the annual "Religious Appreciation Dinner." This is traditionally held the week in which our seminarians head off to the Cedarbrake Retreat House in the Diocese of Austin, Texas, for a week of prayer and study. This year we are welcoming seven new seminarians, which brings us to a total number of 31 seminarians. Most of the seminarians were able to be present at St. Vincent's, with the exception of those at the North American College in Rome, those on "Clinical Pastoral Education" assignments, and those in Mexico.

      The crowd which was at capacity truly enjoyed the evening of faith and fellowship. It was especially fitting that Fr. Kyle Walterscheid, now the pastor of the new Blessed John Paul II parish was recognized for his years of faithful and enthusiastic service, and to welcome Fr. Isaac Orozco as the new Director of Vocations. The generosity of the Knights of Columbus is a true gift. Over the course of this year, the Knights of the Diocese of Fort Worth have raised over $192,000 to help with the expenses of seminary education. Part of the proceeds of that evening also goes to strengthening and sustaining the important ministry of the Diocese to the hearing impaired and the deaf. Thanks to those of the deaf community who were present, and who also entertained us with song and prayer. The entire evening is of symbolic importance in continuing to build a sense of "ecclesial common" for the life of the contemporary Body of Christ, and in continuing to build and encourage a "culture of vocations" where the call to follow the Lord as priests and religious can be clearly heard.

Bishop Kevin Vann is presented with a check to support the
education of seminarians by the Knights of Columbus.
Photo by Joan Kurkowski-Gillen

Fr. Kyle Walterscheid speaks after being recognized for his years
of service as the Director of Vocations. Behind him and to the left is
 Fr. Isaac Orozco, the new Director of Vocations, along with
the seminarians. Photo by Joan Kurkowski-Gillen

Members of the Deaf Community signing a prayer and song at
the Religious Appreciation Dinner. Photo by Joan Kurkowski-Gillen

Off On Pilgrimage

      Sunday, July 29 — After returning from Nocona, I greeted a number of Scouts and leaders at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Fort Worth, along with Fr. Anh Tran, their diocesan Chaplain. They were embarking on a pilgrimage West which was put together by John Ryan and the Scout leaders. This is not only a Scout outing, but a pilgrimage as well, because some of their stops include the Cathedral in Santa Fe, the Loretto Chapel with the miraculous staircase, and the sanctuary of Chimayo. Thanks to John, Fr. Anh, and all who helped to initiate and undertake such an important part of the faith and Scout life of so many of our young people. I met with the Scouts and their leaders, and prayed a prayer of blessing over them from the Book of Blessings prior to their departure from Fort Worth.

Scouts and leaders at St. Patrick's Cathedral in downtown Fort Worth

The Life of Christ in Glass

      Sunday, July 29 — In this day of instant communication, we are certainly used to having information available to us at any time. The "Web," which I am certainly using for this communication, also provides us with immediate information about our Catholic Faith, from reliable sources such as the Holy See and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Previous generations were used to Missalettes, Missals, and then books of all sorts. However, it wasn't always so. In an earlier time [far removed from us], stained glass was a primary medium in which the Scripture was learned, and the lives of the Saints made real and present to the faithful of an earlier time and place. In fact, stained glass was often called the "Poor Man's Scripture." Stained glass, I believe, still has a very important place for us in the prayer and devotional life of the Church. In times of distraction, for example, the Saints and the Lord in the windows call us to them, even during Mass. The use of stained glass contributed to an additional sense being used for our prayer and worship. In the Diocese of Fort Worth we have some wonderful example of classic stained glass in some of our Churches, some of which have recently been restored: St. Peter's in Lindsey, Texas; St. Mary of the Assumption in Fort Worth, and St. Patrick's Cathedral with all of the Saints!

      There also have been some recent beautiful additions to stained glass art in our Diocese, which I would certainly recommend to anyone who is in the area to see: 1) The new Holy Redeemer Church in Aledo, Texas [I have already written about this, but want to site it here again]; 2) our most recent beautiful addition to this tradition at St. Joseph Church in Nocona, Texas. [If the name of Nocona is familiar, think of Nocona boots and gloves!] This Church had never had stained glass before, and thanks to leadership of Fr. Richard Collins, St. Joseph's pastor, and the generosity of many of the families, the church now has stunning stained glass windows of various scenes in the life of Christ. This is especially important in a community that is largely evangelical so that the centrality of Christ is not only communicated to the parishioners, but to the entire community as well. Msgr. Steve Berg, Vicar General, and I were present this past Sunday, July 30, for a blessing and dedication of these windows.