Caracas, Venezuela, Apr 26, 2004 / 22:00 pm
During a deaconate ordination ceremony in the Cathedral of Valencia, Archbishop Jorge Urosa of the same diocese underscored the need for Catholics to renew their efforts to help those most in need of “material and supernatural goods.”
The Archbishop explained that “if we wish to strengthen the credibility of the Church, if we want the world to believe in Jesus, we need to give living witness to that concrete, sacrificial love that attends to the weak, the suffering and the needy present in all sectors, especially among our poor, marginalized and excluded brothers and sisters.”
In his homily entitled, “Love and Renewal,” the Archbishop referred to the deaconate ordination as a sacred action of “renewal and growth in the Church,” adding that “the Church is not renewed by lukewarmness or discouragement, nor by externals or theatrical gestures, nor by bizarre liturgies, nor by secularized attitudes or esoteric spirituality movements.”
The Archbishop underscored three areas of commitment for the new deacons: religious commitment, service to the poor, commitment to celibate and sacred love, “which you should keep with love, joy and spiritual fortitude all your lives.”
Archbishop Urosa emphasized that the Church, and especially the ministers of the altar, should always be at the service of everyone, especially those most in need, “just as our Lord taught us and as has been the living tradition of the Church throughout history.”
“Today in Carabobo, our Church should renew its efforts to be ever more present among the poor, to evangelize them and to bring them supernatural gifts. But also to assist them, to embrace them with the generous and disinterested love of Christ, to help them out of their situation,” he added.
“Therefore it is very important that the ministers of the Lord have an attitude of evangelical poverty: generousness, disinterest in money and in material things and comforts, a willingness to serve anywhere,” the Archbishop concluded.
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