The Catholic Sun Digital Update for
Mar. 20 – Apr. 2
Preview edition
‘God has called you’
Above: Catechumens and their godparents stand as their names are called by parish representatives.
Rite of Election welcomes largest group of catechumens in recent years
By Elizabeth Landry
Staff writer
Each year, the Rite of Election is held on the first Sunday of Lent, but this year, the ceremony looked a little (or perhaps a lot) different. On March 9, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Syracuse was filled with more than 600 people from all across the diocese, including about 134 catechumens, the largest group the diocese has had in recent years.
Healing through the lens of forgiveness
More than 100 women attend Lenten Conference in Vestal
By Connie McKinney
Contributing writer and photographer
Judy Mangiacapra prayed, attended Mass and shared conversation and fellowship with other women during the March 15 Lenten Retreat for Catholic Women held in Vestal.
“There are plenty of opportunities during the year to attend things with a spouse or other family member,” said Mangiacapra, who attends Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Vestal. “There are few events that are just for us.”
Mangiacapra was one of 110 women who attended the women’s retreat held at St. Vincent de Paul Blessed Sacrament Church in Vestal. Activities included breakfast, Mass, Rosary, prayer, Confession and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. The event was organized by the Syracuse Catholic Women’s Commission,
‘No one wants to forgive more than God does’
Diocese participates in Lenten ‘The Light is On For You’ 2025
By Elizabeth Landry
Staff writer
Originally an initiative of the Archdiocese of Washington and the Diocese of Arlington, ‘The Light is On For You’ encourages churches across the country to be open for quiet prayer and Confession throughout the season of Lent. This year, the Diocese of Syracuse is participating in this initiative in all parishes by offering the Sacrament of Reconciliation on the Monday of Holy Week, April 14, from 4-7 p.m.
Many parishes also participated in this initiative during the Advent season at the end of 2024, including every parish in the Greater Utica Area vicariate. Fr. Tom Servatius, vicar forane of the Greater Utica Area and pastor at Historic Old St. John’s, St. Peter’s, St. Joseph-St. Patrick’s and St. Mark’s, all in the Utica area, said that some 12 to 15 priests were available for reconciliation at one location, expressing how successful the initiative was in that region. Speaking with the Sun, he talked about the significance of The Light is On For You, and explained how a regional approach benefits parishioners and priests alike.
Welcome to SunSpeak…
Each Digital Update from the Catholic Sun features…
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A timely column from Bishop Douglas J. Lucia.
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Ordinary Time” with Lucia Silechia, (the “Lucia” theme is purely concidental).
From time to time we will feature other columns of note. Let us know if you like the service we are providing; email us at [email protected].
Lent is a time to deepen our Christian faith
Editor’s note: The following is Bishop’s homily for the March 9 Rite of Election Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
Sisters and brothers, we have now entered the great season of Lent. For some of us this may be a time of excitement, yet for many, me included, Lent has not always been viewed as a time to which we looked forward. Fasting and abstinence, not to mention other forms of penance, is serious business. Although Easter is looked forward to with real anticipation. One’s attitude towards Lent can tend to be on the gloomy and negative side. Perhaps nowadays we, too, have gone to the other extreme where Lent hardly means anything at all, saying: “You mean Lent has started already? Really, I had no idea! Easter will be on top of us before we know where we are and I haven’t bought a thing!”
Yet, brothers and sisters, Lent has always been one of the key periods of the Church year and it would be a great pity if you and I were to forget its real meaning. In fact, that is what we ask for in the Collect, that is, the Opening Prayer of today’s Mass:
The Veronicas of Ordinary Time
By Lucia A. Silecchia
Like so many during Lent, I found myself last Friday night at a small parish church for the Stations of the Cross. In the evening quiet, the last light of day still glimmered through the windows, reminding us that spring, like Easter, is both near and not yet.
This particular devotion is one I have come to cherish because, paradoxically, it is a prayer both deeply communal and profoundly personal at the same time. In a very real sense, praying the Stations with others is a joint pilgrimage as we all hear the same reflections, recite the same responses, and kneel, genuflect and stand in unison. Like any pilgrimage, there is strength in the company of the fellow travelers who surround me.
Yet at the same time, the very familiarity of it all still allows my companions and me the opportunity to be alone in our thoughts and, for a brief time, be caught up in the account of Christ’s passion and death. It is what brings us together for a time. Still, it is also the mystery that quietly touches each of our hearts in many different ways.
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