SW News: Attentively listening to the Word of God, taking part in the Holy Eucharist and dedicating oneself to God and engaging in the service of charity will transform believers into ‘living stones’ as mentioned by St Peter in his epistle in the New Testament thereby building the community of the people of God, said Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle. The prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples made this appeal while preaching the homily during the consecration Mass of the new Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia near Manama, the capital of Bahrain, on Friday, December 10.

The consecration Mass in the morning was concelebrated by Apostolic Nuncio to Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain Archbishop Eugene Nugent, administrator of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia Bishop Paul Hinder and several priests from the Vicariate. Because of the pandemic restrictions, only a limited number of believers were allowed inside the cathedral, which is the biggest church in the Arabian Peninsula.

During the introductory rite, Cardinal Tagle blessed the water to be sprinkled across the cathedral. He then proceeded to douse the walls of the cathedral and its side chapels with Holy Water carrying an aspergillum accompanied by an acolyte with the aspersorium.

Before the Liturgy of the Word, the top prelate presented the lectionary to a female lector. She then proceeded to the ambo for the first reading from the Book of Nehemiah. The responsorial psalm was sung by a member of the choir. The second reading was from the Acts of the Apostles by another parishioner. The Gospel was read by a deacon.

In his homily, Cardinal Tagle first expressed gratitude to the ruler of Bahrain His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa for his benevolence in donating the plot of land on which the cathedral now stands. He also thanked late Bishop Camillo Ballin, the Vicar Apostolic of Northern Arabia, who took the initiative to build the cathedral dedicated to Our Lady of Arabia.

Cardinal Tagle reminded the congregation that the dedication of a church implies that it is now reserved for sacred activities for the glory of God and the sanctification of His people. For this reason, it is called a House of God. The Filipino prelate urged them to come to this House of God frequently to meet and converse with God. If not, it risks being just an empty, cold building.

Alluding to the epistle of Peter who compares believers to ‘living stones’ that build up the Church, Cardinal Tagle spoke at length on how each believer should have an inner transformation and become ‘living stones’ linked to Jesus the cornerstone and build up the community and bring life and warmth to the new cathedral. He said it can be achieved in three ways-by listening to the Word of God, taking part in the Eucharist and sacraments and giving oneself wholly to God and through the service of charity.

The highlight of the ceremony was the anointing of the altar. Cardinal Tagle poured Holy Chrism over the altar’s mensa and rubbed it uniformly across the stone surface chanting prayers as the choir sang the Latin hymn ‘In Omnibus Amare et Servire’. After the anointing, five censers and a special incense burner with live coals were placed on the altar and the cardinal added grains of incense into the censers completing the dedication of the altar for the Holy Sacrifice.

After the dedication of the altar, five nuns came to the sanctuary with baskets containing white pieces of linen with which they carefully mopped up the excess Chrism and dried the surface before placing the altar cloths over the mensa. Then, a small crucifix was placed on the altar along with four candlesticks. Four believers from diverse nationalities came to the altar with four candles and placed them on the stands. They were followed by two women who placed flowers at the foot of the altar.

Cardinal Tagle then passed on lighted candles to two priests who then lit the altar candles. Then began the Liturgy of the Eucharist. After Communion, Cardinal Tagle reverently took the ciborium containing Consecrated Hosts to the Adoration Chapel as the choir sang the Latin hymn ‘O Salutaris Hostia’.

After the prelates and priests returned to the sanctuary, there was a formal vote of thanks by Fr Saji Thomas, parish priest of Awali. He said the strength of the Lord along with the prayers and support of believers worked wonders resulting in the new cathedral. He also paid tribute to the optimism, sincerity and determination

of Bishop Ballin who did everything for the work of the cathedral before his sudden demise.

Fr Saji also thanked the cardinal for accepting the invitation to consecrate the cathedral. He also extended gratitude to the nuncio for his presence and to Bishop Hinder for tackling all hurdles for realizing the project following the demise of Bishop Ballin. He also expressed gratitude to Fr Peter PM, the Custos of the Arabian Peninsula; Fr Xavier D’Souza, the vicar of Sacred Heart parish; Fr Roy, the former parish priest of Awali; Fr Uldarico Ding, former parish priest of Sacred Heart Church, the nuns and seminarians for their support. The vicar of Awali also thanked the royal family members, the architect, the engineer, sound engineering team and all those associated with the construction project. He concluded by thanking all the benefactors who hail from different nations of the vicariate. Bishop Hinder also thanked all communities across the vicariate who contributed generously to the project.

Cardinal Tagle was given a memento by the bishop and he in return presented the Vicar Apostolic with a beautiful monstrance-a gift from the Holy Father and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples for the Bahrain cathedral.