I am writing this on Easter Sunday afternoon after a beautiful, lovely and spiritually renewing and refreshing Holy Week. On Tuesday we filled St. Catherine of Siena’s new church to capacity (c. 1200) for the annual Mass of the Chrism. A large number of my brother priests showed up to concelebrate this Mass with myself and their brothers in priestly ministry. I am always curious about those few who did not attend, especially those who seem to make it their business not to attend on an annual basis. There are, for certain,  occasional funerals and other unexpected events which crop up from time to time, but the date of the Chrism Mass has been set for some time so it is not a scheduling surprise. Those who may choose not to attend do so for other reasons which I suspect are somewhat  selfish. Because a photographer was taking pictures of those attending and concelebrating, (the pictures are on the diocesan website and you may like looking at them to see your priests) I found myself on Tuesday night pretending to be a teacher taking attendance of their class. I know this, it hurts me when men I know who could come choose not to do so, and I think the brothers also feel it. Some bishops hold absent priests accountable – I will never do that – but it does hurt that some could be there but regularly choose not to do so. Anyway, that is the only even remotely unpleasant thing I could say about Holy Week 2013.

The Cathedral of St. Jude was a challenge this year but it turned out wonderfully well for everyone. I suspect if you queried those who attended any of the Holy Week services at St. Jude’s from Palm Sunday through today, Easter Sunday, they would say that the temporary space (used during the rebuilding of the Cathedral church) works well. It is more intimate and therefore we had a sense of “full house” on Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday and Good Friday, and everyone could witness the beautiful liturgies up close and personal. I always feel badly for the Cathedral priests because year after year the bishop who is the pastor of his Cathedral parish shows up and “bumps” the good priests who are there day after day but who do not get to be principal celebrant of the special liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil. This year, however, I asked them to preach and they did, very well. I preached only the shorter homilies accompanying the Palm Sunday Mass and Easter Vigil ceremonies. We baptized three and accepted into the Church and confirmed about fifteen others at the Vigil and if only you could see the smiles on their faces and in one case, the tears of joy which accompanied the moment. So the Cathedral worked thanks to the efforts of staff, sacristans, musicians and choir, deacon and priests, altar servers and God’s grace.

It has been hard since the election of Pope Francis to ignore his presence in the life of the Church. Every day I find myself several times a day scanning various resources online or in blogs to find out what new and distinct thing he has done this day. So many people have said to me how refreshing he is and how proud they are of him. Of course, it has been the honeymoon and he has not had to do some of the hard things which inevitably accompany leadership anywhere, even in the Church. I still think I was right on target in the Chrism Mass homily about what we might expect when the “good times” cease to roll and reality sets in.

Each day, however, Pope Francis amazes me. He preaches like a parish priest does and as a Jesuit does (almost always three points) and his homilies so  far have not been written or delivered to wrest from St. John Chrysostom the title of “golden throat” or Aquinas or Theresa of Avila the title of “Doctor of the Church” but rather they are incredibly insightful in what it takes to be a true follower of Christ and how much joy awaits those who let Christ out of the places where they have locked him in. His glasses keep sliding down his nose like mine do and he looks at his watch like I do from time to time to see if something is going too long. But because of the Pope, we are so far witnessing to a Church which is rising again in the sights of many, our own adherents, people of other faiths, etc. Popes do make a difference and the papacy does mean something for everyone: just recall Blessed Pope John XXIII. From the top the process of renewal and reform might begin once again, only the Holy Spirit knows for certain. But when a renewal begins with the Holy Father, it is truly a reform underway. We shall wait and see and pray for him.

Photo courtesy of Christopher Graff

I also wish to mention that especially poignant for me this year was a last minute liturgy celebrated on Wednesday night of Holy Week at St. Scholastica Catholic Church in Lecanto for Father James Hoge, OSB. Father Hoge had started every parish in Citrus county and was involved in one way or another in the choice of sites for parishes and for building many of them. St. Scholastica was his final contribution as was Pope John Paul II elementary school. A funeral Mass was offered for him at St. Leo monastery, celebrated by his Abbot but I was able to be present to the priests of Citrus county and to about 350 people who knew Father Jim well and who loved him. After the Mass, I joined the priests for dinner and all came. There were wonderful stories exchanged and Monsignor George Cummings who is now our oldest priest (95 this year) and longest ordained (70 years this year) was in our midst to share his crystal clear memories of the birth of the Church in our northernmost county. He and Father Hoge went to the same minor seminary and were classmates so Father’s passing was particularly meaningful to Monsignor Cummings.

Finally, speaking of the Pope, the accompanying photo was taken at the end of the Easter Vigil last night by a friend of mine who is in Rome. I thought I would share it with you. Happy Easter all!

+RNL

It is Easter Monday as I write this and I had some time yesterday to think about Holy Week, the Tridium and Easter for a reason which I will conclude with. I think this has been one of the best Holy Weeks I have experienced in the thirty-four years of my priestly ministry. For one thing, I preached everything from Palm Sunday through the Easter Vigil. Preaching enforces a certain discipline on a person to concentrate more fully and deeply on the meaning of that which is celebrated and proclaimed. I am very sensitive that because I am the bishop and therefore ipso facto the pastor of the Cathedral parish, I therefore cruise into every major event in the life of the parish and take over from the priests who serve there 24/7/366 [this year]. They get neither the chance to be the principal celebrants of the liturgy nor preach Christmas, Easter, etc. So most years I ask the priests to take one of the days of Holy Week and at least preach it. This year they did not get that chance.

For about three weeksI have been meditating and thinking about the theme per crucem ad lucem or as it is translated into English, “through the cross to the light.” So beginning with Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday I attempted in preaching to lead the people through the cross to the light. I also made it the principal refrain of my Chrism Mass homily which you may have read on this blogspot. I was drawn by the stark contrast between Mark’s passion account read on Palm Sunday and John’s account of the same events read on Good Friday. Mark’s passion account is all darkness, defeat almost. The last words of Jesus are “my God, my God why have you abandoned me?” In John, Jesus controls his final hours. He places Pilate, the religious leaders of his time, his friends on trial and does not allow himself to be placed on trial. His penultimate words are to Mary, his mother, and to John, entrusting us to her and her to him. And when he has decided he has had enough, he controls the moment and says, “it is finished.” Two markedly different approaches to the cross were on display this week, one seemingly suffered and the other seemingly embraced. In the crosses of our life, we more often than not have options also – to suffer them or to embrace them. Both can lead to the light which follows most suffering.

At the Easter Vigil of course I was ready to proclaim as the Liturgy of the Vigil had just done – the light. Earlier in the day I had learned of the death of the American artist Thomas Kincaide who as a Christian believer proclaimed that he was an “artist of the light”. His simple paintings adorn walls, napkins, coffee cups, and are said to have brought in 100 million dollars a year. Imagine all of that for simply showing gardens and fields and churches and cottages in the light. How much more light we have as a result of the events of that first Easter when the women (the men were still in hiding for fear of their lives we are told) discover the empty tomb. The full meaning of that moment will not be totally appreciated until next Sunday’s Gospel account of the immediate appearance to the disciples in the upper room and then the wonderful Emmaeus story. I think, well more humbly, I hope I was able to verbally trace a path through suffering to light for those in attendance at the Cathedral and I am sure that whose who journeyed with us throughout Holy Week are tired of hearing per crucem ad lucem. My thanks to the Rector, Father Joseph Waters and to his associate Father Ken Breen for their patience with me and to all the musicians, altar servers, sacristans and countless others who put themselves out, not for the bishop this last week, but for Jesus.

I ended Holy Week by spending Easter Sunday on the “throne.” By some accident of scheduling, a fault all of my own, I scheduled a colonoscopy for Monday morning at eight o’clock. That meant no food and other distractions all of Easter Sunday and especially in the afternoon and evening. Since my long period of illness began in my colon, an ounce of precaution is worth a lot more than a pound of cure, believe me. Last year, only thirteen months after surgery, there was yet another polyp found and removed. Today, it was all clear. I share this with you because I so intensely believe that with care and regular examinations, colon cancer can be avoided and if caught early enough can be survived. There are too many stories which can cause people to avoid colonoscopy check-ups and I am here to tell you that they are not true. The day of preparation is not nearly as bad as it once was (I know because I have experienced the older prep and the newer prep) and the procedure is simple and safe. Thanks to the wonderful Rays yesterday and an exciting Masters golf tournament, I did not miss Easter dinner and today I learned that it is only through this small cross of prepping that one can come to the light of being found clear of colon cancer. If you are older than fifty and have not had a screening and if you have had a screening but it has been some time ago, please, please see your specialist and inquire if it is time. Bet you didn’t think I would end my Easter reflections in this manner.

Happy Easter season to all. He is Risen, Alleluia, Alleluia.

+RNL

Here are some random moments from last week’s Triduum at the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle.

You can click on any of the photos to launch a photo gallery and if you mouse-over the photos, you can view the captions

The Lighting of the Easter Fire which begins the Easter Vigil

If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. (1 Cor. 15:14) With his customary insight, one of the first great converts to Christianity, St. Paul sums up exactly what Easter means to us. It is the epicenter of our faith upon which all else hinges. Without the Resurrection, Jesus would most likely have been just another good person who did good things who history remembers kindly but who lived and died like everyone else. But precisely because he rose from the dead, he is more. He is truly the Son of God. For the next fews weeks we will hear testimony of his Resurrecti0n from people who went to the tomb, encountered Him in his resurrected form, talked to Him, continued to be taught by Him. Easter is far more than an empty tomb. Pranksters could accomplish that. Easter and our faith which flows from it is all about victory over death and sin and new life in a new form. Jesus in his public ministry had raised the son of the widow of Nain, the daughter of Jairus and Lazarus back to life and they simply returned in their human form to continue their life until again a second and final time they had to die. But the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is dramatically different. He does not simply return in his human form but in resurrected form, like we shall all assume one day. Yes, He walked and talked and looked enough like His old self to be recognized at times but he also could appear and disappear, be unrecognizeable, no longer needing human nourishment, sleep and the like. Nor would He ever taste death again but  would live  in eternity with the Father and the Spirit. His resurrection not only defines his divinity but fulfills countless prophecies from the Old Testament and gives us faith for our own futures after our deaths.  The Easter event defines Jesus and  ourselves, gives us hope for what is to come to  us if we too live a life of virtue, seek forgiveness of our sins, and imitate as much as we humanly can our Savior and Lord. Happy Easter to all who read these words and may the news that “He is not here, he has risen” give hope and consolation to you in whatever you may face in life.

The first of four Baptisms at the Easter Vigil, 2011

In addition to the four catechumens, fourteen others were received into the Church and confirmed at the Easter Vigil

+RNL

The term “lay day” has nautical origins and refers to those days when a ship/boat/vessel is neither racing, working, loading, etc. The boat simply lays on its anchor, attached to its mooring, or simply secure to its dock and the crew gets a day off from their usual routine, an opportunity to sleep late, work on personal projects like laundry, write letters, etc. In highly competitive sailboat racing, these days are pre-built into the schedule. For bishops Holy Saturday is a “lay day” – a day without Mass and mostly without appointments or expectations. Pastors and priests in parishes are hard at work preparing and rehearsing for the Easter Vigil (no rest for them) and sacristans, trainers of altar servers, etc. also seldom get the day off. But I do have it off until 830pm tonight and the glorious Easter Vigil.

Here are some thoughts about Holy Week this far. I have witnessed a steady diminution of people coming to Holy Thursday and Good Friday liturgies over the last fifteen years. From standing room only in 1996 to at best two-thirds full this year. A part is due to the shifting demographics of the Cathedral parish over this period of time with many older Catholics for whom Easter meant the entire Triduum either moving or dying. A part is also generational with young parents not having has the experience of accompanying their parents to the Holy Thursday and Good Friday services. Yesterday from the altar I thought that if something is not done to reverse this trend, my successor will be celebrating in front of an empty house in ten years, or almost empty. Triduum, Holy Thursday, Good Friday are just names for days for many younger practicing Catholics and are largely devoid of any real religious need to be present.

Those who do come worship with great reverence and dignity. On Holy Thursday the procession to the altar of reservation was long, prayerful, and richly spiritual for the several hundred who remained to pray. We wash a good number of feet at our Cathedral representative of all age groups and that helps swell attendance slightly. Since we reverence one huge cross at our Cathedral which I hold for an excruciating approximately fifteen minutes or so, I can see two categories of those approaching to kiss the wood of the cross – grandparents and their grandchildren. Maybe the latter is a good sign. I would estimate we had about 500 for Holy Thursday Mass and 650-700 for Good Friday but this is in a Church which comfortably can seat 1,200. There is some “heavy weather sailing” catechesis which needs to be done and soon on the services of Holy Week.

The Easter Vigil begins with sunset at 830pm tonight at our Cathedral and will end about three hours later. Working from an aging memory I think there are about five to be baptized and another twelve to be received into full communion. If history runs it course, there will be about 400 people in the Church for this most beautiful and joyous of all liturgies, save ordination. Time flies for me at the Vigil and it is over before I even begin to fidgit about how long it is lasting. It is simply wonderful.

Holy Week is a lot of work for our priests, deacons  and parish staffs but they joyfully embrace it to hear that welcome news, “He is not here, he has risen!” which comes tonight. The Churches will be jammed tomorrow and at the end of the day, we will settle back and count our many blessings: that we are Catholic, that we journeyed through all of Holy Week with Christ, and that He is Risen. More tomorrow.

+RNL

The Gospel reading for the First Sunday of Lent is always about the trip into the desert by Jesus immediately after his Baptism by John in the Jordan and Satan’s temptations which befell him there. I am certain that the Church wishes us to hear these readings year after year in order that we might enter into some kind of desert experience ourselves throughout these forty days. Deserts that I have known are barren, forbidding and foreboding places where one cannot escape the heat of the day or the chill of the night. There is little to admire and much to fear in crossing a desert. It is boring and easily can give way to hallucinations and anxiety. I doubt if even Jesus was totally comfortable in his desert experience but he could not have found a place more free of distractions to pray at the beginning of his ministry.

For many of us, we need not physically go to a desert to have a “desert experience” and we certainly don’t have to physically relocate to experience temptations to evil, to profound doubt, to deep distrust. The evil one who tempted Jesus still tempts us when we aspire to greater wealth and jealousy of those who have it. The evil one still tempts us when he fills us with unholy ambition that might suggest we walk all over someone else to get something that we want. The evil one still tempts us when he invites us to positions of power and prestige whose methodology of attainment is not that of God.

There are even temptations alive which can right now affect our lives of faith and in the Church. Let me enumerate just a few: (a) the Church is corrupt and I do not need it any more to gain my salvation; (b) I don’t need a human much less a priest to whom I will confess my sins and therefore I choose to go directly to God; (c) the Eucharist is  just a memorial, nothing changes so I sure don’t need to go every Sunday; (d) who needs God? I sure don’t. These temptations are not products of my own too fertile imagination but rather are fairly common in our Church today. At the end of it all, the spirit of evil uses the same temptation to narcissicism as did the evil one with Jesus – it’s all about me! Jesus saw through it all and so must we. It is all about God and God’s relationship with me and me with him. There are as many temptations in the spiritual life in our personal deserts as there are stories in a naked city.

Deacon Jerry Crall calls the 454 Catechumens to be baptized, confirmed and receive First Eucharist at the Easter Vigil this year in the Rite of Election Ceremony at the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle today. Photo courtesy of John Christian

People who travel through deserts, however, look for and rejoice when they come upon an oasis. Just when you think it can not get any worse, there is that cool shade, that cool water, that relief from the heat and desert temptation. I find it amazing that when the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults was instituted following the Second Vatican Council, that the Church found that as Church we just might need an oasis as we begin our Lenten experience. With all the renewed negative publicity about the Church and doubts about its leadership, some of which right now is merited it seems to me, and when one might tend to become dispirited, the Spirit gives us The Rite of Election. Today at the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle, it was my privilege to welcome  1,110 catechumens and candidates who will be received into the Church at the Easter Vigil this year. This is the highest number for this occasion in my fifteen years as bishop and quite frankly, I needed this oasis today more perhaps that those smiling and happy persons who shook my hand in the two separate ceremonies. I have several times mentioned before at this ceremony that it is second only to the ordination of priests in the happiness it brings to a bishop and his priests and deacons.

The Catechumens from Sacred Heart, Tampa, led by Father George Corrigan, OFM approach the bishop. Photo courtesy of John Christian

I know that there are many others preparing for the Easter sacraments who were unable to be at either of the two services held today and their number will make the number entering the Church even more impressive. Sixty-nine of our seventy-seven parishes and missions were present and the Cathedral was full with about 1,200 people at the 2:00pm and 4:30pm celebrations. Some approach me with tears in their eyes and others seem so grateful for the opportunity to be welcomed by the person who will be their bishop this Spring. A good number of children were present at both ceremonies and I counted about twenty families who would be coming into the Church together – Mom and Dad and the kids. Some also came forward who I would expect will get married this Spring and Summer and wish to become Catholic prior to that special moment. As I said earlier there are many stories in the “Naked City” as the old television show used to suggest.

So, if someone was having a desert experience today and could have been with me to share the joy of this annual moment, you would have been most grateful to God for the grace which is operative and obvious in this local Church.

Candidates (already have been baptized) for full communion with the Church at the Easter Vigil come forward for a "close encounter of the first kind" with me. Photo courtesy of John Christian.

Homily for the Easter Vigil

If the very phrase “Good Friday”, as I suggested yesterday might be considered an oxymoron, tragic as it all was, then how much more tonight as we celebrate “the Triumph of the Cross.” Two nights and a day have passed before Peter and the women go to the tomb. Not one of them is recorded to have remembered that Jesus said several times that “the temple would be destroyed but in three days, would rise again.” Gibberish, they must have thought. “What in God’s name is he talking about now? Oh, well, there he goes again. We can’t ask him to unravel every word which comes from his mouth.”

I would take to the bank the notion that they approached the tomb as if everything was over. The women had come to anoint and Peter had come our of curiosity, and perhaps shame to apologize for his cowardice at his friend’s grave. That Jesus might not be there was the farthest thing from their minds.

Lost on them was the story of the Exodus we heard tonight. How God could take something like slavery and human bondage in Egypt, free His people, have Moses lead them to safety in the desert and then when it did not quite as well as they wished, God gave them food, water, commandments and direction in the desert. God could achieve triumph from two disasters. Lost on them was the story of the flood where everything alive seemed to perish except what Noah could store on the ark, but from that tragedy, that remnant, God would give birth AGAIN to a great people. Lost on them that early morning was the reality that the Davidic kingdom and its magnificent Temple would once again be destroyed but then rebuilt. Time after time, God in His great love turns disaster and tragedy into triumph. In all likelihood, they were unable in the darkness that morning to think of anything else than the tragedy of the cross, its depravity, its inhumanity, its humiliation – all done to a good man who wanted nothing but the best for his friends and followers.

So they, like ourselves, arrive at this moment of truth. “He is not here.” “He has Risen from the dead.” Suddenly the cross of Christ is no longer an instrument of torture, a way of dieing, but is transformed into a triumphant instrument of salvation. When we “behold the wondrous cross” do we dwell too long on its tragic reality, or do we see it as the way our loving God by allowing the sacrifice of His Son makes it possible for us to penetrate darkness, whether it is the darkness of our lives or the dark doubts sometimes of our faith life, The cross becomes a bridge between tragedy and triumph, between death and new life, between unbelief and belief. Only God can consistently make something good come from something awful, dreadful, tragic.

Tonight we hear again the story of our salvation as we prepare to baptize these catechumens, longing for the life of grace of the sacraments which Christ left us. In a few moments, they will be baptized into the Christian community, confirmed in the Spirit, and share not their last but their first supper, their first Eucharist with us. We receive sisters and brothers into our Catholic faith in the candidates who shortly will receive the gift of the Spirit in Confirmation and gift of Jesus Himself in the Eucharist.

And then, at the end of this Mass, with the challenge to go in the peace of Christ, loving God and one another. We will have gazed at the cross, uncovered again; visited the empty tomb, and rushed to those places in our lives that are for us the Jerusalems where we meet the Lord as did the disciples following the Resurrection. We take Christ and we meet Christ in our daily lives in our homes, offices, schools, organizations, sports fields and courts. We gaze on the cross and count the cost contained thereon for Jesus. We embrace the cross of Christ and the crosses of our lives, knowing that like Jesus, the Father is never far from us. We celebrate the cross as the necessary portal to the triumph of the Risen Lord in which we share. We take Christ from the cross and share Him with our spouses, our children, our friends and colleagues. From time to time like the disciples this morning, we may feel ashamed of what we do to Christ, but we approach the empty tomb knowing that in leaving that dark place of confinement, Jesus bursts forth to proclaim that evil will never win the day if those of us who embrace His life and name will keep our sights set on His life, His ministry, His work.

For nearly two thousand years, the church which Jesus established and left in the hands of weak humanity has persevered through the darkness of crisis and challenge only to emerge into the brightness of a new dawn with new life, new energy, new dedication, new resolve. This night at least the strife is over, as we sing, and the battle of two thousand years ago is won, but it remains for us to continue the work of that first Easter – to spread the good news, to become whom we receive in the Eucharist and to share the gifts of our faith with others so that more women and men and children will come to the waters of Baptism and full communion.

What we now do in this liturgy continues the work begun with the triumph of the cross and unlike the angel at the tomb, we declare by life’s example, words and deeds, that He has indeed risen and is here to be found.

This homily may also be downloaded as a PDF file.

Update: You can listen to this homily on our podcast.

Theology on Tap is a program for interested Catholics who wish to know more about their faith. While it was begun for and principally attracts twenty and thirty somethings, it is open to any interested Church member. They are held in bars and restaurants so that those attending can combine post-wok relaxation and dining with learning more about their Church. This Spring’s four weeks of Theology on Tap are ended and since most of us missed the occasion of hearing the presentations, I wish to draw your attention to the podcasts of the speakers which can be accessed by going to our diocesan podcast http://blogs.dosp.org/podcast or to the iTunes store where you can download or subscribe for no charge. Apropos of this week, you might especially like to listen to Father John Tapp’s presentation on the Sacred Triduum.

Tomorrow at St. Jude’s Cathedral at 1130am is the annual Chrism Mass, a liturgy which takes it name from the fact that the Sacred Oils of the Sick, the Catechumens, and Chrism are blessed and consecrated during the ceremony. However, it is also the annual occasion for the priests to renew the promises and commitments which they made on the day of their ordination and they turn out in great number for this lovely liturgy. Delegations from all the parishes and missions in the diocese accompany the oils so the Cathedral is fairly full but there is always room for some more so if you have nothing to do and would like to experience the Church at its best, please join us. If, however, you are unable to be physically present, you can join us by tuning into Spirit FM 90.5 [WBVM] for a live broadcast.

This week marks the fifth anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II (on Good Friday, April 2nd) and last week was the 30th anniversary of the martyrdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero, Archbishop of El Salvador who was wantonly murdered in his own Cathedral. We should pray for them both. The Holy Father is well along in the process of beatification prior to canonization as a recognized saint by the  Church and the latter should be further along than he is but that will come in time.

Finally, this is the last blog posting of Holy Week although my homilies throughout the week will be posted here. Easter week I am retreating “into my shell” for some R&R but will be back on the blog on or around the First Sunday of Easter (April 11th). I take this moment to extend to all my readers my prayers for a most blessed Triduum and Easter joy. Welcome to our near 1500 catechumens and candidates who will be entering the Church at the Easter Vigil and the love of Christ and my own to all of you.

Bishop Robert N. Lynch (aka “+RNL”)

1063 catechumens and candidates came to St. Jude Cathedral yesterday (Sunday) for the Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion. That is a great number for our relatively small diocese and to me it is always representatives of a new blossoming or Springtime for our beloved Church. I know we had probably an additional 300 who were unable to come to the Cathedral but who will either be baptized (the catechumens) or admitted to full communion (candidates) at the Easter Vigil.

The mother of all Catholic blogs, Whispers in the Loggia indicated that the Archdiocese of Atlanta had over 2200 for its Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion which is a wonderful number. That growing Archdiocese is approaching one million Catholics and most likely is the fastest growing local Church in the U.S. Philadelphia, it was noted, had a total of about 500 for their ceremony of welcome.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, we had nine less at the Cathedral this year than last year and our number stays pretty steady throughout the years I have been here (now beginning my 15th). Statistically, that means we have baptized and received over 15,000 during that time. How many we have lost in a similar amount of time is harder to calculate and during the years of the clergy misconduct scandal there is no question slightly more people abandoned “ship” than remained on board.

Each year the pastors and associates and their respective Directors of the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) come to the Cathedral beaming as they bring their prospective newcomers up to shake the bishop’s hand and receive his welcome. Some approach me crying, some saying they have never shaken the hand of a bishop before, and some just can’t believe that the journey they embarked upon to become Catholic has so many others interested as is witnessed by the two sessions of a full Cathedral. This much I know for sure, I have to go home and soak my right hand to reduce the swelling caused by 1063 handshakes. How sweet that pain is!

+RNL

Happy Easter to all who read this blog entry. I joined a couple of my priests last night and they were all relating their experience of Holy Week 2009, mostly all pleased with attendance, the ceremonies, their preaching, etc. but all said in one way or another, “I’ll be happy when it is finished.” Easter always ends with great crowds overflowing our parishes following a generally sparsely attended Easter Vigil ceremony the previous night. Tempers run short when finding a place in the parking lot is almost impossible only to find all the places to sit in the Church are already taken. In the end, for some people the Easter experience is a nightmare and they promise never to come back to Church again, until they build a bigger Church some say. Well, one of the largest churches in Christindom is not big enough at Easter – St. Peter’s in Rome. So what is the attraction of Easter.

I think it is to be found in the heart and nature of the day itself. Christmas is a nice story and Jesus had to be born so there’s nothing really new about that, except the manner in which he was conceived. Easter is exceptional – a man dies like a criminal and rises from the dead like God! Now that’s something to recall and to celebrate it with others is really special. But there is more here than meets the eye or the ear. Something profoundly important was done for us and we need to hear its consequences. At the Easter Vigil ceremony I told a story which I found in a recent edition of AMERICA magazine (click here for the homily). I think as did the author of the article that it tells the story of what Easter is all about in imagery we can both understand and appreciate. I hope it helps unlock the secret of Easter’s meaning for you as much as it did for me.

We baptized quite a few at the Cathedral of St. Jude last night and welcomed several more into our faith. Some pictures of the special moment from the Cathedral are shown below. Think of them as being raised from the depth of the baptismal pool (I usually lift each one of them back to their feet after soaking them in baptismal water). Then read the homily if you have not already done so. So happy Easter again. There will be a one week hiatus for myself from writing in this blog and you can begin to look for new entries sometime around the 19th.

BAPTISM OF A CATECHUMEN AT THE EASTER VIGIL AT THE CATHEDRAL

May the light of Christ be kept burning in your life. Father Tottle, the Cathedral Rector presents the baptismal candle to a new baptized

"Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit" - Confirmation of a newly baptized at the Easter Vigil

My thanks for these pictures to John Christian, my Master of Ceremonies for all the Liturgies of Holy Week.

+RNL