Archbishop Miller to be officially welcomed Jan. 25

By Laureen McMahon

At a 3 p.m. Jan. 25 Mass of Thanksgiving at Holy Rosary Cathedral welcoming him to Vancouver, Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, will note the significance of the date. As well as being the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul and the end of the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity, it is also the 50th anniversary of the announcement by Pope John XXIII of the Second Vatican Council.

He also, he said, will touch on the importance of evangelization, the Vancouver Archdiocesan Synod, and ministry to young people.

Love was very much on the mind of Archbishop Miller when he delivered his first homily as Coadjutor Archbishop of Vancouver at the Mass of Welcome at Holy Rosary on Aug. 28, 2007.

In fact, the archbishop told a packed Holy Rosary Cathedral congregation on that day, the feast of St. Augustine, that the heart of the Christian faith is the story of God's love, offered to us as a free gift made personal and concrete in the person of Jesus Christ.

"Every baptized person, every parish, the whole Church is called to proclaim to the world this love which embraces all from the moment of conception, giving each individual an inviolable dignity," said Archbishop Miller.

However, love without any form of sacrifice misses the point of the Christian life, he emphasized.

The Christian story, from beginning to end, revolves around Christ's love for His people and His sacrifice in being willing to lay down His life so that we may share in His glorious resurrection. Without self-sacrifice the profundity of love is diminished and curtailed, said the archbishop.

"We misunderstand love as a transitory sentiment, a vague kindness. Instead it is a gift of one's very self to God and to others," Archbishop Miller added, and he suggested that an authentic church is a church "on the move"; a church that is actively engaged in and enthusiastic about its evangelizing mission.

The Church in Vancouver, he noted, must be a missionary church bringing the love of Christ to others who have not yet experienced God's love. To be an effective, evangelizing church, it is necessary, he stressed, for Catholics to be well formed in their faith.

After the Mass of Thanksgiving, which will take place in the presence of Archbishop Luigi Ventura, the Apostolic Nuncio to Canada, and the retiring Archbishop Emeritus Raymond Roussin, SM, a reception will be held at Rosary Hall.

Everyone is cordially invited to attend the celebration, but the number of reserved tickets is limited. Request tickets as soon as possible from Marjeta Bobnar at mbobnar@rcav.bc.ca.

When Archbishop Miller offered the Mass for his colleagues at the offices of the Vancouver Archdiocese at 150 Robson Street on Jan. 2, he noted that the day was doubly special to him as a Basilian as it was also the feast of St. Basil the Great and of St. Gregory Nazianzen. There were many reasons, he told his co-workers, that he was drawn to Basilian religious life.

"Basil was a fourth-century giant of the faith, one of the Eastern Fathers of the Church, considered one of the great Fathers of monasticism and the common life," he said.

St. Basil also, said Archbishop Miller, was a great defender of the orthodoxy of the Council of Nicea (convened by Emperor Constantine in 325 A.D.) which fought heresy by professing the full divinity of the Son of God, and the divinity of the Holy Spirit. St. Basil was also, added Archbishop Miller, "a great friend of the poor."

A special priests' luncheon is planned for Feb. 5 at St. Mary's Church in Vancouver to welcome the incoming archbishop.

The Mass will be offered and a dinner reception will follow on Feb. 15 at 5 p.m. at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Vancouver to pay tribute to Archbishop Emeritus Raymond Roussin. More details are still to be announced.