Florida Catholic | Tallahassee Rite Of Election Welcomes 80 More

Tallahassee rite of election welcomes 80 more

The rite is held on two dates in two locations because of the “dual see” designation of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee.

KATHY GROBE | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Published: 02.29.08

TALLAHASSEE | “It is very important that we are here to welcome you to full communion, to full participation in the life of Christ.” With those words, Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ, began the rite of election, in which some 80 candidates and catechumens continued their journey to full participation in the Catholic Church.

Although some have made their quest through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, others may have taken a more individualized path. No matter the process, the journey will culminate at the Easter Vigil when all will become full members of the Catholic Church. The Feb. 17 rite took place at the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More. A week earlier, more than 200 catechumens and candidates participated in the same rite at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.

“In his Gospel, Matthew presents a very human Jesus, one who had been poor, one who had been tempted, one who mixed with the common people — the sinners and lepers,” the bishop said. “He used the Transfiguration to enable us to see a complete picture of who Jesus is.”

The bishop reminded his audience that Moses went up a mountain and received the law, the Ten Commandments. In the Transfiguration, Jesus is the new Moses who went up a mountain and came down with a new law. While Moses’ law was inscribed on stone tablets, Jesus’ law, the law of love, was inscribed on our hearts.

“What is this law of love?” Bishop Ricard asked. Referring to Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical, “Deus Caritas Est” (“God Is Love”), he explained that true love must include respect and forgiveness. “Romantic love cannot bring people to the higher calling of forgiveness. You must be able to say ‘I forgive you, I am sorry, I was wrong.’ Romantic love may lead you in that direction, but it falls short; it cannot lead you to respect.”

Bringing his homily to an end, Bishop Ricard urged the soon-to-be Catholics to “go to Mass, receive the sacraments frequently. In this way, you will have the strength to live and to love in a way that is transformative, generative, good, selfless and self-sacrificing.

This is the only way that we will be transformed; it is the only way we will transform the world. Let it be our prayer that we may grow ever deeper into this love as God calls us.”

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Tallahassee rite of election welcomes 80 more

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