November 20, 2011

Dear friends in Christ,

 

On the Solemnity of Christ the King, we Catholics in Northeast Iowa will begin a yearlong celebration of the blessings we have received since the formal establishment of the Church in this area on July 28, 1837.

 

The Church, however, did not start only one hundred and seventy-five years ago.  Rather, the story of this local church goes back to the times of the Bible.  We are Church because Jesus willed that his disciples be formed into Church by the power of the Holy Spirit.  The beginning of the Church is described in The Acts of the Apostles.  The Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and the disciples on Pentecost Sunday and formed them into the Church.  Those first Christians “devoted themselves to the apostles’ instruction and the communal life, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts of the Apostles 2:42).

 

The first Christians remembered what Jesus had said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst” (Matthew 18:20).  They remembered Jesus’ last words before he ascended into heaven, as recorded in the Gospel according to St. Matthew: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations.  Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you.  And know that I am with you always, until the end of the world” (Matthew 28: 19-20).

For the entire letter, please click here.

For Archbishop Hanus' 175th Anniversary Homily, click here.