OCTOBER 11, 1962.....THE DAY THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL OPENED..........

..........Three years ago today, the Most Reverend Jaime Soto, a native priest of Orange California, and from 2000-2007, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Orange, was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Sacramento; subsequently becoming the 9th Bishop of Sacramento on December 1, 2008.  As he begins his fourth year in these sprawling twenty counties of the Church of Sacramento, we offer prayers for him and his episcopal ministry, and wish him continued success in shepherding this People of God..........

The day Bishop Soto was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Sacramento, the priests of the Sacramento Diocese were gathered in Convocation at Knockti Harbor in Clear Lake.  During the dinner hour Bishop Soto made the rounds of the room, personally introducing himself to each of the priests.  When he arrived at me, I welcomed him to the Sacramento Diocese and told him his appointment was of double historical significance.  Firstly, by becoming Coadjutor, knowing he would be the 9th Bishop of Sacramento; and also that his appointment on October 11, 2007, marked the 45th anniversary of the convening of the Second Vatican Council, in Rome on October 11, 1962.  He was surprised a man of my age would remember that so clearly.  And I told him that I am if nothing, a person with a penchant for dates and details of historical interest.....Indeed it was on this day forty eight years ago that the 21st Ecumenical Council in the history of the Catholic Church began, with the Spirit and the Vision, His Holiness, Pope John XXIII, called and convened it with.  For three and three quarter years the Church had prepared for this august gathering of the World's Bishops, and the reform and renewal of Catholic-Christianity it was summoned to bring about.  As John XXIII, himself described it, "A New Pentecost", opening the windows of the Church and letting the fresh air of the Holy Spirit stream through us.  Over the next three years and two months, 4 sessions of the Council Fathers, the Bishops - were held in the autumn of 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1965. The Council discussed and debated 16 Documents, which were promulgated by an overwhelmingly, near unanimous vote, for most of the sixteen, by the more than 300 Bishops present and voting.   All facets of the Life of the Church, from Sacred Liturgy and Sacraments, to the Priesthood, Religious Life, Ecumenism, and the Theological and Social Justice Role of the Church in the Modern World, were addressed by these seminal, renewing, reforming, Vatican II Documents.  From my study and nurturing of the teachings of Vatican II, I have derived as a Priest of Jesus Christ and a Pastor of the Church, a spirit of what I refer to as, "Faith, Fellowship, Collegiality, and Collaboration".  I fully believe that is what God and the Council wants us to live, as has the postconciliar Church for the past forty five years.  What has the postconciliar Vatican II Church given us ?  A development of the theology of being Church as the People of God and the Body of Christ.  An increased understanding of the Sacrament of Baptism and the Sacraments of the Church.  The Universal Call to Holiness directed at each and every Catholic-Christian.  The historic re-emergence of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, (RCIA).  And it has helped us to reach out to our other Christian brothers and sisters, as well as to the Jewish People and all other World Religions.  How wonderfully God's Spirit has allowed the Second Vatican Council to refresh and renew our Catholic-Christian Church.  There are some in the Church who would like to turn the clock back, if not bury Vatican II, and go back  to what I call the, "Museum of the Catholic Church".  As we progress into the 3rd Millennium of Catholic-Christianity, we must strive to keep the truth of the Second Vatican Council vibrantly alive.  No retro, nostalgic, throwback to a previous time can serve the mission and ministry of the Church better than can the graced wisdom of Vatican II.  Until the 22nd Ecumenical Council of the Church is convened, the Teachings of the Second Vatican Council remain our guide and our goal, in making all Peoples, especially the Disciples of Jesus the Christ, holy, faithful, and true, to the New Pentecost of being The People of God  and The Body of Christ, in the Faith, Hope, and Love, Vatican II challenges us to embrace and live..........In The Spirit Of Reform And Renewal Our Carrying Out Of The Second Vatican Council Brings To The World,   Fr.  Troy