Bishop Deeley Visits UMaine Catholics
ORONO---"Let’s pray for each other in these final weeks of Lent that we will use these holy days well.”
A gathering of over 50 Catholics at the University of Maine received that special request from Bishop Robert Deeley during a Sunday evening Mass held in the Bangor Room of the university’s Memorial Union on March 26 (pictures below). The Mass was held on campus as the renovation of the Newman Center continues on College Avenue. The students happily welcomed the bishop for Mass, dinner, and social time.
“At this time in the academic year, you probably look back and say, are we this close to finals already? Where did the year go? That happens, but even as you think about that, you still realize you have time to finish up the things you need to do before finals,” the bishop told the students. “The same is true for the seasons of the Church’s calendar. We are fast approaching Holy Week. Next Sunday will bring us to Palm Sunday and the Passion of Christ. But it is still Lent, and therefore there is still time to do the work of Lent.”
The work Bishop Deeley spoke of was to continue to prepare ourselves for the renewal of baptismal promises at Easter.
“It is in baptism that we find our relationship with Christ. This evening, we might ask ourselves why this relationship is important,” said the bishop.
Bishop Deeley said that a story from Sunday’s Scripture, Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, helps answer that question.
“For us, as Christians, we know that death ends our life on earth but only so that we can live elsewhere. Was Jesus really trying to save Lazarus from the human condition of death? I think it safe to say he was not. This miracle is a sign. It points beyond itself. In fact, it points our attention to Jesus. This miracle is a sign for the people of Jesus’ time and for us in our time. It reveals that Jesus is more powerful than death. If we believe in him, He can guide us beyond death,” said the bishop. “It helps all of us to come to know that Jesus is the Lord of life and death, and that if we place our faith in Jesus, the suffering we experience in this world will itself die, ending along with our lives on earth, while we ourselves, through faith in Jesus, will rise with him to eternal life.”
A relationship with Jesus that begins here on earth in baptism and continues in heaven.
“To believe in Jesus, to have a relationship with him, means more than intellectual assent and it means more than a one-time acceptance,” said the bishop. “To be baptized is to be joined with Christ. It is an immersion into the very life of Christ. Through baptism, we already share in eternal life because we are one with Jesus Christ who, by his love for us, joins us to God. What a gift of grace!”
Bishop Deeley reminded the students that it is not enough to know this. We also need to live it.
“Reflect on the gift of life and hope we receive in baptism. Jesus is with us now. Examine your life. Does it reflect your faith that Jesus gives us life? Do we show that in the love we give to one another because we know that, in Jesus, we are loved by God?”
