|
By Gretchen Keiser, Staff Writer
COLLEGE PARK — The archdiocese was placed under the
protection of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 16.
Archbishop John F. Donoghue, kneeling before an icon of the Sacred
Heart, prayed a prayer enthroning “the Lord Jesus as King and Friend of
the Archdiocese of Atlanta.”
“Today it is my privilege as shepherd of the flock You have
entrusted to my care, to consecrate to your loving Heart this
archdiocese,” he prayed.
Specifically the prayer consecrated the priests, deacons,
Religious women and men, families, single parents, youth and single women and
men and all the inhabitants of the archdiocese to the Sacred Heart.
Further it consecrated members of the military services, police
and fire departments, all those in the service of government, doctors, nurses,
orderlies, paramedics and all those engaged in the work of being “good
Samaritans” to the sick and suffering to Christ.
It entrusts to the care of Jesus all those in this archdiocese who
are in prisons, rest homes, orphanages and institutions, the lonely, the
shut-ins, the homeless, the abandoned, the spiritually and materially poor and
“all who are rebelling against God and society.”
Finally the archbishop consecrated to the Heart of Jesus “all
sinners who have wandered from their Father’s house. May all of them,
through the motherly intercession of Mary, Refuge of Sinners, return to You so
that there may be but one flock and one Shepherd.”
The consecration expresses a desire on the part of the people of
the archdiocese to join in the spirit of expiation and reconciliation that
characterized Jesus, the eternal High Priest and Redeemer of all.
The icon, depicting Christ wrapped in a deep blue and red garment
on a gold background, with golden rays emanating from his heart, was a gift to
the archbishop from Bishop Raymond Burke of LaCrosse, Wis., who recently
enthroned the Sacred Heart in his diocese.
The icon will be placed in the Cathedral of Christ the King.
The enthronement was brought about through the national Sacred
Heart Apostleship Center directed by Father Bill Gaffney, CSsR, of the Bronx,
N.Y., and Gloria Anson of Camillus, N.Y. The center trains people to lead
others in enthroning the Sacred Heart in their homes and communities and in
understanding the larger spirituality and significance of the action. The team
will return to the Atlanta Archdiocese in the fall to lead workshops on the
enthronement of the Sacred Heart in homes.
Anson said that the enthronement reflects the spirit of 2
Chronicles 7:14 in which God tells King Solomon that if God’s people
humble themselves, pray and seek his presence and turn from wicked ways, he
will hear them, forgive them and restore their land. This spirit of humility
and seeking God’s presence is the essence of the act of enthronement,
Anson said. |
