Inaugurating Liturgical Renewal in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Peace be with you!

We find ourselves once again beginning the First Week of Advent, which ushers us into a new liturgical year. The Church in her wisdom invites us to begin again, to renew our hope, to refocus our hearts, and to prepare with expectancy for the coming of the Lord.

This Advent holds a special significance for me as this week marks the three-month anniversary of my episcopal ordination. As I continue to settle into the sacred ministry now entrusted to me as the sixth bishop of Houma-Thibodaux, I am struck by how providential it is that my own beginning coincides with the Church’s own sacred beginning.
 
Moments of new beginnings are moments of grace. They invite us to listen more deeply to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and to allow the Lord to lead us where He desires. With Mary, we are invited to say, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). Through much prayer and reflection over these past months, I have listened and sensed a clear and gentle prompting from the Lord to which I invite us all to offer our “yes:” to inaugurate for our diocesan family an ongoing season of liturgical renewal.
 
The liturgy is the public worship of God by the Church (cf. CCC 1069-1070). Through the liturgy, we, the people of God, participate in His work of redemption, whether through the Mass, the sacraments, or other sacred rites. The liturgy is the highest action of the Church and the source of her power. There is no other action of the Church more important than the celebration of the liturgy because it is there that we encounter the saving love of God (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium 7).
 
Therefore, this liturgical renewal cannot simply be about external practices and procedures, but about a deeper conversion of heart that renews the way we pray and the way we celebrate the sacred mysteries. In this way, we can allow the liturgy to more fully shape our identity as missionary disciples. The fruits and expressions of this renewal will unfold gradually over the coming years, always rooted in the Church’s rich tradition and always aimed at drawing us closer to Christ, apart from whom we can do nothing (cf. John 15:5).

Over the course of the next few months, commissions will be established to enable the implementation of this renewal in a very intentional, practical, and wide-reaching way so that it may bear fruit—fruit that will last (John 15:16).

Renewing Our Love for Jesus in the Eucharist

At the heart of this season is a simple, profound desire: to fall in love again with Jesus, who gives Himself completely to us in the sacred Liturgy, and most especially in the gift of the Eucharist. Liturgical renewal cannot happen without Eucharistic renewal. The Lord is inviting us to rediscover the awe, the wonder, the silence, and the devotion that flow from a living Eucharistic faith. He is inviting us to worship Him with hearts that are fully His and to allow our lives to be shaped and transformed by what we celebrate at the altar.
 
South Louisiana has a great heritage of the Catholic faith. For generations our local Church has been sustained at the altar of the Lord, from which flows the “source and summit” of our Christian life in the Eucharist (cf. Lumen Gentium 11). Yet every generation must renew and reclaim its own love for our Eucharistic Lord. We must deepen our reverence and recommit ourselves to the sacred worship that God alone deserves. This is our moment to do just that.

Giving the Lord Our Very Best in the Sacred Liturgy

In the sacred Liturgy, Heaven and earth meet. Angels and saints surround us and worship with us. Jesus Christ becomes truly present. Because of this mystery, we strive to offer God nothing less than our very best. During this season of Liturgical Renewal, we will work to cultivate reverence that reflects the holiness of the mystery before us, beauty that lifts our hearts to God, noble simplicity that reveals rather than distracts from the sacred, and prayerful participation that draws the faithful deeper into Christ’s sacrifice.

A Renewal of Sacred Music

A particular focus of this season will be sacred music, the musical prayer of the Church that gives voice to our worship. The Church teaches that sacred music is not merely an artistic addition but rather an integral part of the liturgy. Throughout this renewal, we will work to form, support, and equip parish music ministries to recover the rich treasury of sacred music the Church offers. I extend a special word of gratitude to our musicians and choir members. Your ministry is essential to the prayer of the Church. I promise you the support of your diocese as we strive together to renew our musical offering to the Lord.

Diocesan Liturgical Celebrations

Throughout this time of renewal, we will gather as the Mystical Body of Christ to worship our Lord in profound and public ways. You will be invited to participate in Eucharistic and other liturgical processions in our towns and parishes, large diocesan liturgies that unite our people around Jesus Christ our High Priest, and missions and catechesis on the importance and necessity of the Liturgy and how we can better incorporate it into our lives of faith. These moments will allow us to better know and proclaim to our neighbors that Jesus is truly among us in the Liturgy, walking with His people.

That Christ May Be Our Center Again

This season of Liturgical Renewal is not simply about improving practices or updating procedures. It is about conversion. While the liturgy is the most important action of the Church, it does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church and must be accompanied by evangelization, faith, and conversion (cf. CCC 1072). The Renewal is about returning, as a diocesan family, to the One who gives meaning to everything we do. If we succeed in placing the Liturgy again at the center of our lives, our homes, and our parishes, then everything else will be renewed: our vocations, our ministries, our mission, and our hope as a people.

A Final Invitation

I invite every priest, deacon, religious, lay leader, family, and parishioner to enter this time of renewal with open hearts. The Lord desires to do something beautiful in us. May we allow Him total access to work as He desires.

Let this be the season when we more fully recognize Jesus in His work of the Liturgy and when we rediscover who we are because we rediscover Whose we are.

May Mary, Mother of the Church, accompany us. May St. Francis de Sales and St. Joseph, patrons of our diocese, guard us. And may Jesus Christ, our High Priest, transform us ever more fully into His missionary disciples.

With paternal affection and confident hope, I impart my blessing.
 
+ Bishop Simon Peter Engurait
Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux