Holy Cross Mass Bulletin

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Holy Cross Mass Bulletin

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â??A servant of Godâ??
Spirit of legendary Bishop Baraga present throughout Gaylord Bishop Raicaâ??s installation Mass

Gaylord â?? Steven J. Raicaâ??s ordination as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Gaylord included a lot of smiles and laughter. Lansing bishop Earl A. Boyea, for whom the new bishop served as chancellor, offered some in his homily. â??On this day, August 28, 153 years ago in 1861, after a two day canoe journey of 11 hours each day, Bishop (Fredreric) Baraga arrived with his five Indian at Eagletown from Little Traverse and wrote: â??after an unpleasant journey, rowing continuously, I arrived...sick,â??â?￾ â??Bishop Raica, he was only two years older than you. Practically every summer this bishop of Sault Ste. Marie, this venerable Servant of God, made a long pastoral visit to the northern Lower Peninsula at the request of Bishop Peter Paul Lefevre in Detroit. When not in a canoe, he was on a horse or on his feet, feet that 31 years earlier he had described as â??very sore and badâ?? and as possible disqualifiers for his going to America as a missionary.â?￾
â??Some 30 years earlier, Bishop Baraga had his first posting in the Arbre Croche area, which included care of Beaver Island, Manistique, and Cheyboygan, at that time on Burt Lake. During his first winter there in early 1833, he noted how cold it was, requiring his constant breath in order to melt the wine in the chalice so as to consecrate it and again in order to consume the Precious Blood of our Savior,â?￾ â??And he was happy.â?￾
â??Bishop Boyea, what can I say?â?￾ Bishop Raica, 61, said drawing laughs. â??Your homily today regarding the vocation of a bishop so aptly and succinctly illustrated the whole mission of a Servant of God, Bishop Frederic Baraga, in our area, in the Upper Peninsula, in circumstances that inspire us today to look for every opportunity to do something more. His whole ministry here was, in a real sense, to proclaim Christ in the periphery that Pope Francis so clearly speaks of today. He was a pioneer of the spirit needed in every age, to share good news, and we pray for his beatification and, God willing, his eventual canonization. His spirit filled ministry inspired me to fulfill my new responsibilities and bring forth the work begun by our ancestors when they couldnâ??t contain their enthusiasm about the man who left them astonished and amazed. May this good news of Christ our Savior and redeemer, reside and resound here in Upper Lower Michigan.â?￾
As he embarked on his new role, the bishop also asked the faithful for time. â??I ask for your patience as I learn from the landscape of this beautiful, dynamic diocese,â?￾ he said. â??Never would I have imagined I would spend my final years of priestly ministry in the Diocese of Gaylord. Never would I have imagined the experiences I have had in priestly ministry that prepared me for this mission and this providential moment. These blessings and often unexpected challenges enabled me to see that Christ loves us. â??To fall in love with God is the greatest of all romances. To seek him, the greatest adventure. To find Him, the greatest human achievement. Our challenge today, like Bishop Baraga, seems to me, is to bring Christ to the peripheries of our lives. To be sure, none of this would ever be possible unless this destiny, this hope, this love, had not reached out to us. We were and are immensely loved by Christ. Having encountered Christ in the lived abundance of life, we have all been called.â?￾

The Motto of His Excellency The Most Reverend Steven J. Raica: Sursum Corda (Lamentations 3:41)
Translates to â??Let Us Lift Up Our Hearts to The Lord.â?￾ And has been used in the Holy Mass liturgy at the beginning of the preface before the Canon since at least from the year 215 A.D.

-Excerpted from Mark Haneyâ??s Catholic Weekly Article
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