The Year of Faith in the Catholic Diocese of Marquette will close in a similar fashion to the way it began on Oct. 20/21, 2012. Everyone throughout the diocese is welcome to participate in the Solemn Mass at Holy Name of Mary Parish in Sault Ste. Marie on Sunday, Nov. 24, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.
Diocesan administrator, Father Francis Dobrzenski, invites Catholics to walk in procession with him at 11:10 a.m. ET from St. Mary’s School to Holy Name of Mary Church. The procession will head east on Cedar Street, north on Kimball and then west on East Portage Avenue. Fr. Dobrzenski will carry a large wooden cross, made by Bob Grimes of Harvey, and then plant it in the ground and bless it in front of Holy Name of Mary Church. Mass will then begin at 11:30 a.m. ET inside the church.
The Year of Faith began last fall with Bishop Alexander Sample travelling by car and symbolically and liturgically making the Sign of the Cross over the Upper Peninsula by celebrating Mass at Copper Harbor, Menominee, Ironwood and Drummond Island, all in one weekend. He, too, carried a cross in procession at each site.
“At that time, four crosses were planted at the four corners of the U.P. and the fifth one was planted at St. Peter Cathedral in Marquette,” explained Deacon Tom Foye, director of the Diocesan Office of Divine Worship. “To complete the historical link, we will plant the sixth cross next month at Holy Name of Mary Church.”
Sault Ste. Marie was chosen as the site for this Mass following the recommendation of the Diocesan Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, since Sault Ste. Marie was the original See city of our diocesan Church and Holy Name of Mary Church succeeds in service the original diocesan cathedral church. As our former bishop, the Most Rev. Alexander K. Sample, stated in his Pastoral Letter on the New Evangelization and the Year of Faith, We Wish to See Jesus, “We will end the year where our diocese began. This is to emphasize that we will go back to our roots and start afresh in this great mission of the New Evangelization.”
Fr. Dobrzenski hopes that many Catholics in the Holy Name of Mary Vicariate in the eastern U.P. will be able to attend the Nov. 24 Mass in the Soo. Of course, all Catholics in the diocese are invited, but Fr. Dobrzenski realizes that the weather during this time of the year may not be conducive to travel and the people of the diocese belong to individual parishes.
However, people attending Mass in all of the parishes and missions across the U.P. that same weekend are asked to join with those celebrating the Year of Faith Mass in the Soo in making a solemn profession of faith by chanting the Creed.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI called for the world-wide Year of Faith to run from October 11, 2012 to November 24, 2013. The purpose of this year has been to increase the faith of churchgoing Catholics. In the Diocese of Marquette, it is being used as a kickoff for the New Evangelization, which primarily focuses on evangelizing the baptized, especially those who have drifted away from the Church.
Deacon Foye believes the Year of Faith did indeed help people to grow in their personal faith. “For those who participated in any Year of Faith event, whether saying the Prayer of the New Evangelization at Mass, or becoming more involved and saying a weekly rosary, fasting from meat on Fridays, learning more about Sacred Scripture or the parts of the Mass, all or any of these help us to grow in holiness,” he noted.
“Also, by bringing attention to our individual role in the New Evangelization, it made it more than just a buzz word. My hope is that people will feel a personal responsibility for the work of the New Evangelization,” Deacon Foye added. Now it’s up to area Catholics to help write the next chapter in the over 2,000-year-old mission to bring all people to Christ.
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