Inauguration of the Jubilee Year – Theatines in USA
“OUR LADY OF PURITY” PROVINCE
“[United] with a bond so strong that neither changes of place nor death itself can break” (Const. CCRR art. 9).
With joy, affection and gratitude, the Theatines of Our Lady of Purity, as part of the provincial Jubilee celebrations of the Order, celebrated Mass in the Archbishops’ Chapel at Mount Olivet Cemetery in the town of Wheat Ridge 33 kilometers from Denver. During the Mass, the fathers and brothers present prayed together for the souls of those Theatines who have preceded them in the Faith and who now await the Resurrection of the Dead.
The Mass was presided and concelebrated by Frs. Arras, Cisneros and Robles, CC.RR., respectively, with Bro. Alvarado, CR. as master of ceremonies, while the musical animation was led by Frs. Flores and Nuñez, CC.RR. The homily was preached by Diac. Ruiz, CR, who shared the following points:
- The present Jubilee of the foundation of the Order is a special time to re-member all those who have passed on to Eternal Life and who now accompany us through the testimony of life that they left us as a spiritual legacy.
- It is necessary to deepen the etymological root of the verb to remember (re-cordis), “to bring something back to the heart”, knowing that memory is what makes believers strong, because it leads them to value the path, rooted in a history and a project that precedes them.
- Memory leads human beings to understand that they are not alone, that they belong to a community. To the Church. The history of a religious community is forged by the lives of men who aspired to share with others the path of charity and forgiveness.
- Remembering involves bringing back to the heart the joy of God in our personal history.
- Through the story of the circle of ninety-nine, he reminded us that many times we feel that we lack something to be happy and that we lose our joy for very little and stop enjoying what we have because we yearn for what we lack.
After the Eucharist, in procession and invoking the intercession of All Saints, the community went to bless and offer incense before the tombs of the deceased brothers and sisters.
