Gradient Mask

Hello, everyone!

Okay, this is something I tried to do once long ago with Flash MX, and it did not work for me, and now with CS3, I find that the same concept is not working. What I am trying to do is make an animation where the text appears via a masked layer, but I would like the mask’s gradient to be revealed in the animation.

Here is what I have: [CENTER][/CENTER]
And here is how it is being displayed during the animation:[CENTER][/CENTER]
I assume that there are a few of you Flash whizzes in here who can help me, right?
Thanks in advance!