Cardinal Celebrates Closing Liturgy For Bicentennial Year

Braintree, MA, November 23, 2008

The Archdiocese of Boston celebrated the Closing Mass of the Bicentennial Year this afternoon at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston.

Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley was joined by Cardinal Justin Rigali of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, more than 20 Bishops from around New England and the country, hundreds of clergy, religious and deacons and parishioners from across the Archdiocese of Boston at today’s closing liturgy.

Cardinal Seán said, “We have been blessed as a Church during this Bicentennial Year. Our people, clergy, religious, deacons, parishes, schools, and ministries have all joined together in the presence of our Lord to celebrate our faith as one Catholic community. From every corner of our Archdiocese, we have prayed and worshiped together reflecting on our rich history and with great joy for the future of our local Church.”

The Centerpiece of the Bicentennial Celebration: ARISE: Together in Christ
The centerpiece of the yearlong celebration has been the launch of the 3-year program ARISE: Together in Christ, a comprehensive process of spiritual renewal from RENEW International. The effort is being led by Mrs. Mary Ann McLaughlin, Co-Director of the Office of Worship and Spiritual Life and Auxiliary Bishop John A. Dooher with the able assistance of Mrs. Ann Cussen, Operations Associate for ARISE: Together in Christ.

Mrs. McLaughlin said, “Cardinal Seán has called on the faithful of the Archdiocese of Boston to participate in this three-year process of spiritual renewal and evangelization in order to deepen their faith, develop a closer relationship with Christ, grow in community and reach out in service to others. We are seeing that happen and are blessed to be at such a wonderful and exciting threshold as an Archdiocese as we prepare for Season Two of ARISE.”

Highlights of ARISE to date:

• More than half the parishes in the Archdiocese, approximately 160 parishes, are participating in ARISE.
• There are about 30,000 people who have joined ARISE groups with 3,000 leaders that have been trained.
• ARISE is presently working with 7 languages, English, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Lithuanian, Spanish, Vietnamese and American Sign Language.
• Because of requests from parishes who want to participate in ARISE this Lent, Sister Honora Nolty OP from RENEW International will be doing two more trainings on December 6, 2008. One at St John's Parish in Swampscott, the other at St John's Parish in Quincy. It is not too late to sign on for ARISE Together in Christ.
• In Lent ARISE will move to Season Two, “Change our Hearts.”

RENEW International will begin a second round of training in January 2009 with fifteen workshops scheduled to be held in all the regions in the Archdiocese, and given in Portuguese, Spanish and English. More information is available on the program by visiting www.renewintl.org/arise.

The above is from a news story on the Archdiocese of Boston website, www.rcab.org. Used with permission. The photo is courtesy of The Pilot.

If you would like information about ARISE Together in Christ or other RENEW International pastoral processes, click here.

About RENEW International RENEW International is a canonically-recognized Catholic organization based in Plainfield, NJ, in the Archdiocese of Newark. RENEW International fosters spiritual renewal in the Catholic tradition by empowering individuals and communities to encounter God in everyday life, deepen and share faith, and connect faith with action. Since 1980 RENEW International has revitalized parish life in over 150 dioceses in the United States, touching the lives of 25 million people through its renewal processes. RENEW International also reaches many thousands outside the United States, having served people in 23 countries, across six continents and in 44 languages.