Open Wide the Doors to Christ

In the Diocese of Lubbock, Bishop Plácido Rodríguez, CMF, has echoed the pope’s call by inviting the church on the South Plains and Rolling Plains of West Texas to join the universal church in opening wide the doors to Christ in preparation for the celebration of the Third Millennium of Christianity.
The invitation is clear. We are encouraged to “open wide the doors to Christ” through personal conversion and mutual reconciliation... through building community and fostering harmony... and, through working for justice and peace in our homes, in our neighborhoods, and in our world.
The fifteenth anniversary celebration for the Diocese of Lubbock is a celebration of many
things. But, most of all, it’s a celebration of the ways in which Catholics in West Texas are responding to the invitation issued by the pope and by our bishop. It’s a celebration of faith. It’s a celebration of hope. It’s a celebration of love. It’s a celebration of the ways in which the doors to Christ are opening wide in a special land and in a special people.

A Land and a People

The Diocese of Lubbock is a vast kaleidoscope of terrains and cultures: From Muleshoe to Anson, from Plainview to Snyder, and from Seminole to Paducah... across the bluebonnet draped rolling plains in the east, through the Caprock canyonlands, to the setting sun on the Llano Estacado horizon... through fields of cotton and grains and grapes, past oil patches forested with pump jacks, to the grassland empires of ranching dynasties... through ancient Indian campsites littered with arrowheads, past the wood frame ruins of shacks that protected the first settlers, to the sturdy brick homes that shelter their descendants.
From north to south and from east to west, it’s a journey rich with wonders enough to absorb all but the most jaded onlooker. It’s a journey through the beautiful, productive, and hospitable land that is home to the churches embraced by the Diocese of Lubbock. And, to meet the Catholics gathered in those churches is to experience a people who reflect well the virtues of the land on which they live:
• A faithful people with unique beauty... a splendid tapestry of cultures and a heartwarming portrait of the all-encompassing Body of Christ;
• A hopeful people of unparalleled productivity... zealous in an abundance of
ministries and diligent in the pursuit of justice for all; and,
• A loving people with generous hearts... graciously working together to “open wide the doors to Christ” for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000.