March 3 | 2024 VOL 33 NO 7
IN THIS ISSUE GOT GAME GIFT JESUS B1 GIRLS B1 HISTORIC A10 TEACHING KCHS Lady Irish repeat St. John Neumann Diocesan students, faculty celebrate the Catholic faith
Church, School get major donation
as state champions in basketball
Catholic commentary ....................... A3 Parish news ....................................... B4 Diocesan calendar ............................ B5 Columns ..........................................B6-7 Catholic schools ..........................B9-10 La Cosecha ............................Section C
In full communion
Nearly 400 catechumens, candidates entering Catholic Church at Easter Vigil By Bill Brewer
Welcome to our Church Father David Boettner, second from right, welcomes catechumens and candidates from the Diocese of Knoxville who will be joining the Catholic Church at Easter Vigil Mass during the Rite of Election on Feb. 17 at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. given it. And so, watching folks who are coming into the Church or being baptized for the first time or coming into full communion, I think it causes us to pause and ask ourselves a question: OK, what if I
Moving service highlights the darkness present before Easter By Emily Booker
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Easter on page A16
Rite of Election continued on page A14
Parishes embrace Tenebrae
The East Tennessee Catholic hurches in the Diocese of Knoxville are preparing for Easter as Lent leads the faithful into Holy Week. Laetare Sunday, celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent, is a time when the Church pauses the penitential reflections of Lent and “rejoices” in the hope of the coming Easter season. Parish priests will don rosecolored vestments, and faithful Catholics will look up from the somber practices of the 40 days of sacrifice and penance to see a glimpse into Easter. Laetare Sunday will give way to Passiontide and Palm Sunday. Altars will be draped in purple, and the faithful will immerse themselves in a dark and somber reflection of the Passion of Jesus on His way to the cross. Holy Week begins with the distribution of palms at the Palm Sunday Mass. In the diocese, the Monday of Holy Week, March 25, is when the Chrism Mass will be celebrated. The annual Mass will begin at 7 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This is a change from the usual Chrism Mass time in the diocese — the Tuesday of Holy Week.
had not been born into the Catholic faith. Would I have their courage? Would I have their commitment? I think it helps us all to grow a little stronger, a little more intentional about our faith.”
low. Quiet. Dark. It can be difficult to step away from the busyness and noise of the world and to truly enter into a space that offers a stillness in order to draw you closer to God. If you are looking for a way to more deeply reflect on Christ’s Passion and death during Holy Week, you may consider attending a Tenebrae service, which has been gaining more popularity at some parishes in the Diocese of Knoxville in recent years. Tenebrae, which means “darkness” in Latin, is traditionally held during the Triduum, the three days preceding Easter. Deacon Gordon Lowery has been leading the English Tenebrae service at Holy Ghost Church in Knoxville for several years. Holy Ghost has offered the Tenebrae service in both English and traditional Latin forms during Holy Week. Deacon Lowery explained that Tenebrae was originally a way for the laity to share in praying the Liturgy of the Hours during the holiest time of the year. “Down the ages it’s changed a lot,” he explained. “Back in the medieval times the Liturgy of the Hours was just for the clergy. This was a form of the Liturgy of the Hours prayed by the laity during Holy Week.” Since Vatican II, the Tenebrae service is not celebrated as regularly. Now, parish Tenebrae services each
Darkness before the light Deacon Gordon Lowery holds the crotalus he uses during the Tenebrae service at Holy Ghost Church in Knoxville each Easter Triduum. Tenebrae is growing in popularity in the Diocese of Knoxville as more churches mark the period of darkness during Jesus Christ's crucifixion before His resurrection.
BILL BREWER
Diocesan churches preparing for Easter celebrations as Lent ushers in Holy Week services
BILL BREWER
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he season of Lent brings with it newness and growth, as in the hundreds of catechumens and candidates who will be entering into full communion with the Catholic Church at Easter. Many of those catechumens and candidates gathered at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on Feb. 17 and Feb. 18 for the Rite of Election of Catechumens and the Call to Continuing Conversion of Candidates, where Father David Boettner, who serves as cathedral rector, told those joining the Church that their faith and courage was an inspiration for all Catholics, many of whom may be prompted to ask themselves, “If I weren’t Catholic, would I have joined the Church?” “I love the Rite of Election and just the whole process of the RCIA,” Father Boettner said. “I’m always humbled because for those of us who were born Catholic, we were given a gift that we probably didn’t fully appreciate when we were first
Nearly 300 catechumens and candidates participated in the Rite of Election services for the Chattanooga and Five Rivers deaneries on Feb. 17 and the Cumberland Mountain and Smoky Mountain deaneries on Feb. 18, according to the Diocese of Knoxville’s Office of Christian Formation. Deacon Jim Bello, who serves as director of the Office of Christian Formation and at Holy Spirit Parish in Soddy-Daisy, said nearly 400 East Tennessee catechumens and candidates are expected to be in full communion with the Church at Easter Vigil on Saturday, March 30. At that time, catechumens will receive the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and first Holy Communion. Candidates will receive the sacraments of confirmation and first Communion. “It was a beautiful two days. This rite is always one of my favorite events of the year because we are welcoming these new people into the Church as they continue their formation. They’ve worked so hard.
vary slightly but follow the similar themes and the same focus on entering into the darkness with Christ. The cantors or congregation is divided into two choirs that alternate the chanting or reading of Scripture. “We chant from the lamentations of Jeremiah the prophet,” Deacon Lowery said. “We’re lamenting what is going on with Jesus, His beating and whipping and scourging, the crown of thorns, the spitting on Him. That’s what the lamentations are all about.”
Each lamentation or psalm is followed by a prayer, and then a candle is extinguished, slowly leaving the church in darkness. “You go through this process of reading and meditating and extinguishing a candle. And the candles are usually the only light that’s there, so that by the time you’re done, you’re in darkness,” said Deacon Tim Elliott, who has been leading the Tenebrae service at All Saints Church in Knoxville since around 2011. Tenebrae continued on page A16