July 20, 2022 By Darcy Fargo OGDENSBURG – Joy filled St. Mary’s Cathedral in Ogdensburg as Bishop Terry R. LaValley honored 33 individuals for their faithfulness and contributions to the Church during the Celebration of the Body of Christ on July 10. The event began with an organ recital by Donald K. Fellows, former director for music for St. Mary’s Cathedral and Wadhams Hall Seminary College on the cathedral organ. “I just want to say thank you for attending this part of this afternoon’s festivities,” Fellows said. I am really honored to be back here after quite a few years ago. I’m humbled, too, to see all names in program of all you wonderful people that make the North Country Catholic life alive and well. Congratulations to all of you.” Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament followed the recital. Judy Pearson served as lector. Adoration included a Litany of Parish Patrons that invoked the intercession of the saints for whom diocesan parishes are named. Following Adoration, Bishop LaValley addressed the assembly. “While there are so very many faith-filled individuals in our diocese who are worthy of this special recognition, it is with great pride and much gratitude that I’m pleased to confer special honors to some parishioners as we acknowledge their exceptional discipleship in the Church,” Bishop LaValley said. “As we continue to celebrate the 150th anniversary of this family of faith of the North Country, the Bishop Wadhams Award, named in honor of our first bishop, recognizes individuals for their outstanding service. As we celebrate 150 years as a diocese, this is but one expression of gratitude to our honorees and to all those who so faithfully support and build up our local Church. You live humbly what we celebrate. You live humbly what you believe. You challenge all of us to reflect on the depth of our own faith and how we give witness to it in our local parishes and so often with much personal sacrifice.” Bishop LaValley noted that the honorees are living examples of discipleship and mission. “In his exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis said that ‘everyone can share in some way in the life of the church,’” Bishop LaValley said. “Well certainly today’s honorees do just that. The holy father said that ‘people of faith are needed who, by the example of their lives, point out the way to the promise land and keep hope alive.’ Sisters and brothers, the citations you will soon receive attest to the hope that you instill in the rest of us. My sisters and brothers, the citations you will soon receive help us to keep faith alive. Yes, we journey into the future with great hope. Yes, we know well the challenges that lay ahead. But we know, too, the wonderful possibilities we have to grow as Church, energized and inspired by the faith life of our honorees this day. We are impelled, with these honorees as remarkable examples, to continue to follow Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life. Our journey in this life has as its ultimate end – sometimes the world forgets this: Our ultimate end is our full encounter with God, and through the journey, the Holy Spirit purifies us, lifts us up and sanctifies us so that we may enter into the happiness for which our hearts long. Jesus is and must always be the center of our lives.” The bishop then congratulated the honorees and encouraged all to continue in the celebration of the diocesan anniversary. With the Church of Ogdensburg, I want to congratulate our honorees and their families,” he said. “Thank you. Thank you for your faithfulness and the support of your parish family. Let us all now continue our anniversary celebration with dogged determination and fortified faith to heed Jesus’ call – follow me. Together with much gratitude, we remember the clergy, consecrated religious and lay women and men who followed Jesus in years past. We renew our baptismal promises to be joy-filled disciples in mission. We rejoice in being Christ-led, Christ-fed and hope-filled.” Honored at the Celebration of the Body of Christ were:
|
||||
|
|||||||||
