Bishop O'Connell's homily for the 2014 Rite of Election

The name that we focus upon today in this “Rite of Election” is that of Christian, Catholic Christian.  The name Christian means “follower of Christ.”  It carries with it a depth of meaning and purpose and identity.

We live in a time and a world where is it is common to hear “a religion does not really matter.”  There is only one God.  Our particular religion, how we call ourselves and how we pray are not as important as simply being “spiritual.”  It’s all the same.

But, as common as that feeling might be, it is simply not true.  If it were true, what are we doing here on this first Sunday of Lent?  Why have we come to this Cathedral?  Why have we spent our time and our energy preparing for our full initiation as Christians in the Catholic Church?  Why are you asking me, the bishop of this Diocese, to become full members of the Church, the “elect” for the coming feast of Easter?  And what are the rest of these people doing here?

To be a Christian, to become Catholics and to be known by that name means something to you who are Catechumens.  It means something to your godparents and sponsors.  It means something to this community of faith who surrounds you know with their witness and prayers and support.  The name of Christian is a deep identification of what you believe in; what you are called to be and, therefore, how you are planning to live in this world.

“Now I establish a covenant with you and your descendants,” we heard in the first reading, the end of the familiar story of Noah in the Book of Genesis.  Today, in the Rite of Election, Christ establishes a covenant with you, the Catholic Church establishes a covenant with you. You belong to Jesus Christ.  You have elected and you have been elected to become part of his Church.  To be a Catholic, one of God’s chosen ones, as we heard in the second reading from St. Paul to the Colossians.  To take on the name Christian; to call yourself Catholic, proclaims that you are ready and willing to identify yourself with the One who, as the second reading from the First Letter of Peter tells us, “suffered … to bring you to God.”  The waters of baptism make that clear as a sign of your death to sin and rising to new life in Christ.

Your name and your identity, as with all of the baptized in the Church, draw from the person of Jesus Christ, who was tempted in the desert but triumphed over sin.  You are a Christian who has chosen and has been chosen to remain in Jesus Christ, like branches on a vine, and that name and identity of Catholic Christian will be enable you “to bear fruit.”  As good and wonderful as your life has been up to now, your new name and new life in Christ, signal that his “joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.”  Catechumens, members of the elect, remain in his love, signified by the name Christian.  The time has come for you to tell, for you to show the world what that name truly means.