TO ENRICH THE FAITH OF ALL BELIEVERS

FEBRUARY 4, 2007

As many of you know, I served as a priest in the Rio Grande Valley in the early ‘60’s. At that time, a very large number of our parishioners were migrant farm workers. They would harvest cotton and vegetable crops in the Valley in early Spring, and then follow the harvesting season through the State of Texas and eventually into the Mid-Western States. They left home before the school year ended and returned after the next school year had begun.

This schedule of life, necessitated by the nature of their work, affected the education of their children, as well as their formation in the faith. Some of them did not graduate from high school and many of them did not receive First Communion and/or Confirmation. The schools have responded to this unmet educational need by providing GED classes for those residents who did not graduate from high school.

The Diocese of Brownsville has designed a new and one-time initiative to reach out to all those who have not received all the Sacraments of Initiation. This includes the sons and daughters of migrant farm workers as well as those who, for whatever reason, did not have the opportunity to prepare for and receive the sacraments. We are calling it The Plan to Catechize All Those Whom We Have Baptized (The Plan).

The Plan calls for all the parishes in the Valley to collaborate in this special effort to serve adult Catholics (over 18 years of age) who have been baptized, and have received no other Sacrament. During the weeks of Lent, we will prepare them for the reception of Penance and First Eucharist, so that every parish will offer First Communion for adults at a special celebration of the Eucharist, on the Fifth Sunday of Lent (March 25, 2007).

We will resume classes during the Second Week of Easter (April 16), for three more weeks. During this time we will prepare the adults (over 18 years of age) who received First Communion on the Fifth Sunday of Lent, for the Sacrament of Confirmation which I will celebrate on May 3, 2007. Those who are preparing for Confirmation through the regular parish program will be confirmed on Pentecost Sunday (May 27, 2007).

Beginning on Ash Wednesday (February 21) KMBH-TV Channel 60 {Cable 10} will air the instructions each week, on Mondays and Wednesdays, at 7:00 p.m. Each parish will provide a meeting room and a facilitator that can answer questions regarding the content of the instruction. The parishes that cannot sponsor the meetings at the time the program is aired will be able to request a DVD or VHS from the station each week, for its presentation at a convenient time. Although the television program will be in English, the discussions in the parishes may be bi-lingual: English/Spanish.

Since this Plan is a corollary to Disciples in Mission, those participating will be encouraged to attend the meetings and other activities of our Diocesan Program of Evangelization, so that they can begin to be incorporated into the life of their parish family. This will provide a rich complement to the instruction that this special Plan offers.

I encourage all those good Catholics who have not received their First Holy Communion and the Sacrament of Confirmation to take advantage of this opportunity. You will be able to register in your parish any time before Ash Wednesday. When you register, you will be asked for a copy of your Baptismal Certificate. If you do not have a copy, please provide whatever information you have about the date and the place (Church and City) where you were baptized so that the parish may obtain a certificate. You can begin the preparation even if you do not yet have your Baptismal Certificate, so long as you have it by the time you will receive the sacraments. There is no cost. Christ has given the sacraments to his Church, and the Church offers them freely to those who seek them.

The instruction that will be aired on KMBH-TV will also serve as a “refresher course” for all of us. I invite all our parishioners to view these programs for your own enrichment in the faith. I invite all the people in the Valley who are interested in what the Catholic Church teaches about Confession, Holy Communion (the Eucharist) and Confirmation to view this series, as well. Please tell your relatives and friends about this opportunity. Spread the word!

I am pleased and excited about The Plan. May it serve as a rich resource for all the people of the Valley!

+Bishop Raymundo J. Peña

last updated 05-Jun-2008 9:48 sitemap