Bishop
John's
homily
at the
Rite
of
Election
2010

The Rite of Election - 2010

Homily by Bishop John Hine
on Saturday, 20th February 2010
at Saint George's Cathedral

As I look out over this great congregation, it is fascinating to think that each one of you here has your own story, your own life story, your own faith story. How did you come to this moment? Why are you sitting here preparing yourself for the final stage to become a full Catholic? What moments of grace have there been along the way? What has turned
your mind and heart towards taking this step? So often God uses people - people we love and admire - to be the trigger. But, whoever may have helped us, in the end it is always God’s call.

This ceremony is called the ‘Rite of Election’. That word ‘election’ makes us think of a General Election - when we choose and vote for whoever we want to be our Member of Parliament, or whoever we want to be our future Government. But in this ceremony today, it is not us who are doing the choosing, the election is God’s choice. God is calling and choosing you to set out on this journey to full membership of His Church.

In a few minutes from now, I will be seated in that chair up there and you will hear me say “Let them be called by name”. It will be a very special moment when your name is read out. Hear it not just as one of a list of names – hear it as God calling you by name, hear it as God choosing you as his special follower. Hear your name ringing round the walls of this Cathedral, the mother Church of our whole diocese, and as you stand after you hear your name you are saying ‘YES’ to going on the journey God has called you to.

But you are not alone: in our first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses is instructing the people of God about what they must do and not do when they go into the Promised Land – and reminding them why – because they are God’s People. So they are to recall the story of the people - how they got to Egypt, how they were mistreated, how the Lord rescued them with mighty hand and outstretched arm and has brought them to this land where milk and honey flow. Each one of them had their own individual story of their life, but also they shared a story of their journey together over the years - they were truly a people, a people who had their own story.

It is very significant that you are not invited here alone. Your call is to be part of the on going story of the God’s people in the New Testament – our Church. We are your companions: your sponsor with you now, those who lead your RCIA, your fellow parishioners, your priest and, indeed, your bishop - we are your travelling companions.

And it is a journey that involves change. You know only too well that becoming a Catholic is not just joining a club of like minded people - it should involve a whole change of attitudes and priorities and ways of thinking and being. Lent is for all of us in the Church a season of renewal - each of us travels on this journey of continuing conversion in our own lives every Lent.

I read a remarkable story of change a few weeks ago in my newspaper. It was about an Austrian millionaire who gave away nearly all his money and chose to live a simple life in a very ordinary house with enough to live on and no more. We were told that he did this because his wealth did not lead him to happiness and he wanted to just be himself, like everyone else, instead of being a millionaire with all the trappings of wealth and power. When you read things like that you wonder what caused this man to change so dramatically. For most of us change happens very slowly, very gradually. Lent is a time when we try especially to change – to be more like Christ (because that is what our call is – to be like Christ). But for you, candidates and catechumens, this is a very special time of change: you are being supported and held up in prayer by your parish community, you are being helped to reflect prayerfully on the Word of God. Maybe you will never again have just such an opportunity for growth in the love of God.

In our gospel today we heard of Jesus Christ being tempted – being offered the power and the glory of all the kingdoms of the world if he just worshipped the tempter, worshipped something other than God. And Jesus’ reply could be our motto for this Lent “Worship the Lord your God, worship Him alone, serve only God”. That means rearranging our values – putting the Lord before everything else. It means changing our way of life at least to some degree, it means listening deeply to the word of the Lord and letting it echo in our hearts. You remember what St Paul said to us in our second reading today (Letter to the Romans) The word, that is the faith we proclaim, is very near to you. "The word, that is the faith we proclaim, is very near to you, it is on your lips and in your heart. If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved."

What a promise! What a journey you are on!