The familiar pyramid structure remains while a new entrance leading to a large and inviting "gathering space" is shown here in this picture.

So far for the last several years I have had the great joy during the Advent season to consecrate new altars in two churches which badly needed and have undergone very serious remodeling. A year ago December it was Holy Family parish in northeast St. Petersburg and this year it was St. Jerome parish church in Indian Rocks Beach. The good parishioners had been worshipping for forty years in a Church which was unique in the diocese, basically a pyramid. Inside there were no main entrances to the space, a steeply sloped floor (caskets needed special brakes!), an initial color scheme which might once have been stunning but through the years became a point of some humor, and a section for the choir that might as well have been right in the sanctuary. St. Jerome’s has one of the best choirs in the diocese under the longtime direction of Tom Kurt and it is quite large so any new design had to accommodate this wonderful reality. Seating about a thousand people with a daily Mass chapel which remained open twenty-four hours each day for private Eucharistic adoration, the old and original St. Jerome’s satisfied many. There had been one remodel of the sanctuary since its original opening but little else had been done for the main worship space.

A few years ago the pastor, Monsignor Brendan Muldoon carefully began to raise with the congregation the possibility of an updating of the space. There were few weddings held at St. Jerome’s because there was no middle aisle for a bride to march down. There was no access to the sanctuary for the physically challenged to proclaim the readings or serve as Eucharistic ministers, the pews were getting dangerously old and the carpet and seat cushions desperately needed replacement and soon. Additionally, there was no main entrance and gathering space where during the rain people could be dropped off or picked up, a casket could be taken from or placed into a hearse in inclement weather, and the carpet was both threadbare and coming up (I myself a few years ago recklessly swinging an incense thurible burned a hole in the carpet in front of the main altar). So slowly and painstakingly Monsignor Muldoon with the support of a few parishioners began to make his case for a total re-do. The end product is nothing short of a spectacular transition from what was to what now is. Under the able direction of Christine Reinhardt, a liturgical consultant, and Nelson Griffin a local architect, plans were slowly drawn to level the floor, change the inner axis of the Church by relocating the sanctuary, creating a gathering space and a true main entrance from the outside which was weather resistant, creating a smaller twenty-four hour a day adoration chapel behind and visible from the main apse of the Church, and a new altar, ambo, and baptismal font.

A view from the left side of the space shows the new sanctuary, altar, place for the choir and musicians. Photo kindness of David Exterkamp of St. Jerome parish.

On December 17th the parish gathered for the consecration of the new altar (since the exterior walls of the church remains unchanged, a full rite of dedication of a church was not called for). Standing at the main entrance at the conclusion of Mass, almost every parishioner  was highly complimentary of their new worship space. Since with the exception of the new entrance/gathering space built for the moment, the rest of the Church contained the original “wineskins” of the original structure thus proving that “new wine” can be made to work. Congratulations were abundant to Monsignor Muldoon and all who worked with him on this multi-year project which was accomplished for about three million dollars. It will serve the community of St. Jerome’s for many years and encourage a fuller and more active participation in the Eucharistic Liturgy as envisioned by the Second Vatican Council. Everyone is now closer to the altar and can be more a part of the sacred action. That’s what a remodel project should be all about!

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Rev. George Rozycki

I have found that emotionally one of the hardest things which I have to do as bishop is to bury my brother priests. Obviously the difficulty is not with the theology of death but as in any family when a member passes from life into death into new life, there is a sense of loss and a pain of saying farewell. Because of my faith in the resurrection and that by and through the death of the Lord it became possible for all of us appropriately prepared and at peace with our God to eventually enter eternal life, the “sting” is somewhat reduced but death, especially when it comes surprisingly quickly and somewhat unexpectedly moves me to the same questions for God as it might any family who has lost a member.

This past Easter, Father George Rozycki, pastor of St. Joseph parish in Zephyrhills, began to feel something was wrong with himself. Like most men he delayed seeing a doctor and in 2008 he had had a long siege of sickness and hospitalization resulting from cancer and a colon re-section. I am sure he was not at peace with the possibility of entering a hospital again and facing another surgery and recovery. Last month he finally went to see his primary physician who put him into the hospital in Zephyrhills for observation and tests and pancreatic cancer became the prime suspect. He entered Tampa General only a few weeks ago for biopsy and had surgery week before last. Sparing you the details, Father George was led home to the Lord on Monday afternoon as a result of many things including apparently sepsis. In nine weeks, this good man went from feeling well enough to death. Amazingly he leaves both parents who will attend his funeral Mass along with a brother and nieces and nephews.

Born in 1943, Father George was ordained for the Diocese of Rockville Center in May of 1970. For a portion of his priestly life he served in the Diocese of Honolulu before coming to our local Church in 1992. Ministering as an Associate Pastor in Holy Family parish in St. Petersburg and Nativity parish in Brandon, it was my joy to inform Father Rozycki that he had been incardinated into our diocese and later to give him his first and last assignment as pastor here to St. Joseph’s in Zephyrhills. That parish is amazing in that the population of the area goes from about 10,000 in the summer months to near 60,000 in the winter so the demands on the priests of the parish are especially challenging during those periods when the “snow birds” are here. Father George loved the parish and its people, whether they were the summer remnant or the winter influx. However, he was beginning to tire and he asked me if he could retire on his 70th birthday which is two years away and I said yes. But he had one more thing he wished to do before stepping aside at St. Joseph and that was to renovate the sanctuary of St. Joseph’s, a project underway and so far along that it will not be possible for us to hold his funeral Mass in the Church which is full of scaffolding, but in the parish hall.

Father George had a wonderful sense of balance about himself and a very cheery disposition. If things got to him, it must have been internally because almost everyone would say that he was ever happy. When I saw him two weeks ago before his surgery, he knew he was quite sick and that it was likely that he would not live to see the rest for which he longed in retirement. He told me that he did not fear death but just regretted that he would not have some years free of administration to relax, enjoy life, and “smell the coffee.” I would see him one final time the day after surgery, Tuesday of last week, and he was heavily sedated and in ICU but he still managed to look at me and smile when I told him that we were all praying for him. I think he knew that he had one foot in that place of eternal rest.

Many shall miss him, I among them. Father George, may you rest in peace and may eternal light shine on you.

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Daniel Angel, Christopher Mertens, Robert Angel - Off to Africa With CRS

One of the greatest delights of my life as  both a priest and a bishop has been a long association with Catholic Relief Services. For twelve years I served on the Board of Directors of our Church’s overseas development and relief agency and for the last six I was privileged to be its Chairman of the Board and for a time, its President. During all those years I came to deeply appreciate CRS’s work throughout the globe to the poor, disadvantaged and ignored. Its staff, U.S. and international, are both committed and extremely competent. At the present moment I serve on a Search Committee seeking a replacement for Kenneth Hackett who is retiring after eighteen years at the helm of this agency which will approach one billion dollars in program services in the coming year. I was also on the Search Committee when chose Mr. Hackett. So my history, knowledge of and love for CRS runs very deep and is in my DNA.

Two years ago I invited a college Junior at what was then Loyola Baltimore and a graduate of St. Jude the Apostle elementary school and Jesuit High School to consider a summer internship with CRS. At the time I thought he would likely be assigned to Africa or South America, but instead the agency sent him to India for eight weeks. Brendan J. Stack who on Saturday graduated from Loyola Maryland had a great summer watching the Church work in an environment which was not easy and he came away with a deep respect for the work of CRS and a personal commitment to serve the poor as long as he might. This August he leaves for Idaho to spend a year with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps work with the homeless and undocumented in Boise, Idaho.

This summer I have invited two seminarians and one junior at Notre Dame University to take advantage of a similar opportunity and they leave shortly for their eight week assignments on the African Continent. Bob Angel is a graduate of Holy Family elementary in St. Petersburg and Northeast High School where he was a competitive swimmer. After graduating from the University of Florida he worked for one year as a fireman with the Tampa Fire Department where we won an award as the most spirit-filled recruit the department had in 2009. However, he heard the voice of the Lord suggesting to him that he might wish to try priesthood and he has spent the last two years in the pre-theology program at St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami and will enter St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach for his theology studies this August. Bob has been assigned to Sierra Leone where he will be involved in peace-building efforts in which CRS is engaged in a country that has recently seen the end to a long and bloody civil war. He will also work with children in a Catholic parish.

One year after Bob entered the seminary in Miami, his younger brother Dan who was halfway through  his college studies at the University of Central Florida decided to do the same and he joined his older sibling last Fall and finished his junior year a few weeks ago. Dan, like Bob, attended Holy Family Catholic School and Northeast High School where he also was a competitive swimmer. While attending UCF, Dan worked as a watchman and “friend” of Shamu at Sea World in Orlando. Dan has been assigned to a parish in Liberia, 100 miles outside of Monrovia, the capital. Liberia is also in the midst of reunification of purpose and people following a deadly and long civil war.

If it seems like all the CRS interns this year have swimming in their background, it is true but merely an accident. Christopher Mertens will be a junior in pre-med at Notre Dame University this fall as well as a student manager to the football and other varsity sports. He was the St. Petersburg Times “Male Scholar-Athlete” for Pinellas County in 2009, was captain for two years of the Palm Harbor University Swim Team, held a couple of school records and led his team to successful post-season competition in regional and state swimming meets. At Notre Dame, Christopher is one of the leaders in  his dorm’s commitment to Dismas House, a halfway house for convicted felons who have served their prison sentences, have been released and are looking for employment and some future better than what they have just left. Christopher has been assigned to Ghana and will work with a Doctor in an AIDS clinic in the northern small city of Tamale for eight weeks as a medical assistant.

If these three men have a great experience in the universal Church and a new appreciation of the role of Catholic Relief Services, then as long as CRS accepts young people in its program, I will be open to offering the opportunity to other young women and men who might wish to be sent to any where on the globe where there are people in need and suffering. Remember, however, it could be tough like Haiti and all the assignments have a certain amount of low risk and major inconvenience to the standard of living to which we are accustomed.

The Angel brothers are blogging their experiences this summer on http://african-angels.blogspot.com/ The first installment is up and ready for your viewing and I shall throughout the summer be posting from all three things I think you will be interested in reading and/or learning about our “three ambassadors to Africa” from the Diocese of St. Petersburg.

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Monday evening I attended the annual FAST Rally which they hold in preparation for what they call their Nehemiah Conference which will be held in four weeks. FAST is an acronym for “Faith and Action for Strength Together.” It is basically a community organizing association of Churches of all denominations working on tough issues of Social Justice. Precisely because it is a “Community Organizing” organization, it makes a lot of people uncomfortable. They zealously take on  issues which no one else will speak for and they confront elected and appointed officials seeking an honest reflection of their support or opposition. Their target of concern is not politicians or appointed officials in city and county government, but the African-American male who is unlikely to graduate from high school, the jailed drug addicted person whose program for rehabilitation which was available until this year in the county jail but now is another victim to budget cuts. That program saved a goodly number of offenders from returning to crack, to crime, to incarceration. Then there is the fifteen million dollars promised for low-income housing in the county when we were sold a bill of goods on “Penny for Pinellas” but now is being used for “beach renourishment.” FAST also is seeking a commitment by the Pinellas county school system that it will develop and implement a plan for raising the reading level of children in the schools. These are far from radical goals.

About 900 people attended the rally which was held at Holy Family Church. Eight of our Catholic parishes were represented by their pastors and people. The black Churches of the county are well represented. Monsignor Anton Dechering, pastor of Blessed Trinity parish is one of two co-chairs. The hope this year for the Nehemiah Conference is that 4,000 people will attend to hear whether or not those elected and appointed officials who have been invited support these goals and initiatives for 2011-2012. Generally no one likes to be put on the spot and told they may only give a “yes” or “no” answer to a question put to them. FAST meets with those who indicate they will come and tells them the exact question which will be put to them. There is never a surprise. I personally would have a hard time supporting any effort which had as its tool “ambushing” someone and embarrassing them in public. That is not what will happen at the Nehemiah Conference. They know what they will be asked and they are given three minutes to explain their decisions (the exact same amount of time as was pointed out that a citizen appearing before city councils, county commissions and the school board, are given in this area to raise an issue or ask a question). If an elected or appointed official offers a response supporting FAST’s goal/objective, then they are appropriately applauded. Ah, but you ask, what if they say it cannot be done? Then they are greeted with just silence, no booing or other signs of disrespect are tolerated. In New England this would be called a town meeting but in Pinellas County if you don’t like it, it is called “badgering.” What a shame because these goals are simply asking for ways to help the poor, the addicted, the minority child in school, get what other people can expect and access either through private or public funds. When I have been able to be present for the Nehemiah Conference, I have on occasion been impressed with an official who says, “just can’t do it” and gives the reason. He/she came and that was important and offered a reason. Sometimes the negative response has given FAST leadership an opportunity to continue dialogue with the official and find an acceptable middle ground.

There is a strong biblical root in what FAST attempts and it is Catholic Social Teaching to its very core in action. It is neither Republican or Democratic nor is it some emerging form of socialism. In my judgment it is giving a voice in the public square to the voiceless, ignored and often disparaged. Not everyone is comfortable with this approach as you can tell that not every parish in Pinellas is a member of FAST. Generally, the pastor is the gate keeper of whether or not his community will join and/or participate. I just wish those who are skeptical or even opposed had been with me last night to listen to the witness of courageous women and men speaking of their heartbreaking experience with a system which seems to them to be heartless.

Tomorrow the bishops of Florida meet for the first time with Governor Scott in Tallahassee. More on that meeting later in the week.

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I have always loved and found generally true that old aphorism, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” It has been about ten days since I last logged on to share some of the things happening in the life of the diocese and each day I rise saying, I am going to write a blog entry and each night I go to bed saying, “shucks.” So there is a lot to cover in this entry.

VISIT TO OUR SEMINARIANS

Week before last I visited our seminarians at St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami and St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary at Boynton Beach. We currently have eighteen on campus at the former in their college and pre-theology years and nine on campus at the latter plus two men currently in the diocese of what is called “Pastoral Year.” I try to give each seminarian twenty to thirty minutes for some private time with me, celebrate the Eucharist for them, take them en masse out to dinner and say prayer with them. This year our new diocesan Vocation Director, Father John Blum accompanied me and he too spends time with each seminarian. At the conclusion of our visit, we both meet with the Rectors of the seminaries to gain their perspective on  how they see our men doing in formation. Honest seminarians always admit to the challenges of pursuing their vocations. Think of what we ask of them: celibate chastity all their lives beginning when they enter the seminary gates, living in close proximity to others and constantly under a microscope (not necessarily of their superiors but even their peers) studying two intellectual disciplines which are largely abstract in their origins (philosophy and theology), living, studying and praying in multi-cultural, multi-language Miami and South Florida. There is little that is new here to priestly formation but the experience of recent years in the Church has shone a spotlight much more glaringly on seminary education and formation and our men sense it. Overall, they are doing quite well. Some have decided not to go on after this year and they spoke honestly to me of their reasons and I admire their decisions, hard as they were to arrive at. Most are content, challenged, and eager to move on eventually to priesthood. From the perspective of a soon to be seventy year old, I can not help but admire the sacrifice these young men are making in a youth culture, perhaps even in a secular culture which neither understands nor values a chaste and celibate priesthood. While I stop short of elevating our seminarians to the ranks of heroes or saints, I can not help but admire their generosity and commitment. I left my camera at home on this trip but here is a picture of the college seminarians and one of the theologians will follow as this week I must return to both seminaries for the twice yearly meeting of the Board of Trustees.

The college seminarians with Fr. Blum.

ROMAN MISSAL WORKSHOPS

Over 750 people attended one of five workshops held the last ten days throughout the diocese on the introduction on the First Sunday of Advent of the new Roman Missal translation of the Mass. I was so proud of both the presenters and those who gave of their time and talent to come and learn about what will be happening and how best we might prepare our parishioners for it. Planned, organized and executed by the Diocesan Worship Office and Commission, I have to admit that I learned some new things myself, even though I had been actively involved in the process of vetting the translation recommendations. In a few days, and I will make note of it here in this space, a video of the two major presentations made during these workshops, one by Doug Reatini on the history of changes in the Roman Missal and the second by Father John Tapp on what to expect on “T DAY” (the last Saturday in November at the Vigil Masses for the First Sunday of Advent) will be available on our Diocesan Website to join the video of Bishop Blase Cupich’s fine presentation to our priests in December of last year. If you are truly interested and I hope you are, take the time to watch both of these videos and I guarantee you will be ready for T-Day. Thanks to all who worked so hard to make these workshops so beneficial. The “buzz” (“buzz” is different from the things which are said to the bishop to make him feel good) on these days has been overwhelmingly positive and grateful. I am proud of our diocese and I know in my heart and mind that we will be ready.

Workshop held at St. Timothy Church in Lutz on Feb. 12, 2011

THE CATHOLIC FOUNDATION DINNER

About 540 people joined me in our annual dinner for the Catholic Foundation which has as one of its principal goals raising money for tuition assistance for children attending our Catholic schools who might not otherwise be able to afford it. Last year they raised just over $150,000 for tuition assistance and this year appears that it will be about the same. It was truly “Women in the Church Night” at the A La Carte Pavilion in Tampa last Saturday a week ago.  Sometimes when our Church gathers there is this underlying feeling that unless one has a cardinal or well-known archbishop to give the major address, there is little reason to go. Well this year gave the lie to that line of thinking. The major address was given by a woman born in mainland China and the show was stolen by an eighth grade young lady from St. Raphael’s school.

The principal speaker for the evening Professor Carolyn Y. Woo, Dean of the Mendoza School of Business at Notre Dame University. Dean Woo told of her own personal debt to the Catholic schooling she received in Hong Kong at the hands of the Maryknoll Sisters who had been forced by the communists out of mainland China and had taken up both residence and mission in Hong Kong. It was the sisters who guided this young girl, the fourth of six children, through elementary and high school and gave her the courage to look to the United States for her college. With only enough money to pay for the first year of tuition at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, against her father’s wishes she made her way to the college of her choice, using $1800 (the cost for one year’s tuition in 1972 at Purdue) which she had saved from summer jobs, gifts from her siblings, and help from her nanny. Alone, afraid, but determined, she went to daily Mass at the student center at Purdue and almost immediately met the man to be her husband years later after she had completed her doctorate degree. Purdue hired her, first with a teaching job and then as a part of the University Administration. Fourteen years ago Notre Dame discovered her and asked that she come to South Bend to be Dean of their Business School. In the succeeding years she has led a major school on campus which this year in one ratings system is now first in Undergraduate Business schools in the nation and sixth in their Graduate Program. And she would lay it all at the feet of those noble women from the United States, the Maryknoll sisters, who taught her that a woman can become a leader, even in a culture (Mandarin Chinese) that relegates them to inferior positions behind men. Her story is one of amazing accomplishment and deep faith and one could hear a pin drop in the huge room while she was speaking.

Dean Carolyn Y. Woo, Dean of the Mendoza School of Business at the University of Notre Dame with Henry Jenkins, currently an ACE teacher at Holy Family Catholic School in St. Petersburg

But even Dean Woo would say the evening belonged to in the eighth grader at St. Raphael who won the diocesan first prize in an essay contest on what it means to be in a Catholic School. Speaking for about ten minutes from memory and with a super accompanying video which she herself put together, she won a long, sustained and enthusiastic standing ovation from those in attendance for her talk and presentation. It was stunning, even to me who sometimes callously thinks I have seen and heard everything. Her prize was full one year tuition which she will spend at St. Petersburg Catholic in the coming year. This young woman stands a great chance of being her generation’s Carolyn Woo. Here is Heather Finster, this year’s winner who has set the bar incredibly high for eighth graders who will attempt in future years to top her. Heather’s mom worked for many years for St. Joseph Hospital and her father died a number of years ago, making this achievement all the more beautiful. Congratulations, Heather, and it will be nice to have you in the neighborhood when you come to SPC.

Winner of the Catholic Foundation's First Annual Essay Contest on "What a Catholic School Has Meant to Me"

The Foundation made a special award to Mrs.Cecile Demers of St. Patrick’s parish in Largo  who with her husband have been strong supporters of  Catholic education, particularly at St. Patrick’s school , Clearwater Central Catholic High School and  St. Leo University. Although her husband is now deceased, Mrs. Demers continues to share the blessings of her life with young women and men who probably could not afford to be in a Catholic school were it not for her generosity and that of her late husband. Here is a picture of my presentation of this year’s Foundation Award to Mrs. Demers who used the moment appropriately enough to tell me to do more for Catholic school kids – truly an amazing woman.

Photo compliments of P. L. Carrillo

Finally, it has been “crunch time” for Confirmations and I have been doing about four a week since a month ago. There are eight more between now and the night before Ash Wednesday when we cease the confirmation circuit to better focus on Lent and preparing once again for Easter and the Triduum which precedes it. All toll, this year I will celebrate the sacrament of confirmation forty-four times before mid-June and will have served fifty-one parishes (some combine their young people and others come to the Cathedral for the two large group celebrations of the sacrament. Here one final picture of that special moment – in my life and hopefully in the lives of the young women and men who receive the sacrament.

Photo by Walter Pruchnik III

This completes the longest blog entry in the short history of this author. But now we are caught up for the moment. I hope reading it has not been something akin to walking that road to hell but in writing this, however late, I did have good intentions.

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The Christmas season which began in 2010 and ends today with the Baptism of the Lord will forever hold many memories for me but I thought you might enjoy some of them in pictures of the last sixteen days:

The newly renovated Holy Family Church on Christmas Eve, 2010

The new transitional apartments for the homeless at Pinellas Hope who have jobs and are transitioning to independent living

The Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus at the Cathedral of St. Jude present me with a picture just prior to Midnight Mass of the reception of the relic of St. John Bosco last September

Pausing for private prayer at the Cathedral creche prior to Midnight Mass

Midnight Mass over at 1:15am and I am off to bed and the Women's Prison on Christmas morning. Cameras are not allowed there. Cathedral pictures were taken by Brendan J. Stack.

Stain Glass Window of the Holy Family at Holy Family Church, St. Petersburg

Some weeks ago, in fact during the November meeting of bishops in Baltimore, you may recall that I wrote of a luncheon I had with two seniors at Loyola Baltimore. One was from our diocese, Brendan Stack who wrote so well in this space of his experience with Catholic Relief Services in India during the summer of 2009 and his roommate whom I had never met until then, Patrick Sullivan who attended Chaminade High School in Mineola, New York. I asked both men what the Church could do generally and what I might do specifically as bishop to staunch the flow of young people from leaving the Church of their baptism for other faiths or no faith. Patrick must have spent some time reflecting on the question because shortly after I returned home he wrote me quite a letter which I think is very appropriate to share with you today. I have his permission and what follows in strictly Sullivan and not Lynch:

“As I was thinking more about our conversation, particularly about our ‘losing’ of  practicing Catholics, I thought about our families being the foundation of our faith. I can not tell you the amount of times I have heard from my friends, even those strong in faith, that prayer in the home is few and far between. I can speak from personal experience; my mother is extremely involved with the Church, spending the majority of her day working with those who form men for the priesthood. My father is a recent convert to Catholicism whose fervor for the Church is paralleled by few. Even with their strong convictions, though, familial prayer is something that is hard to find in my home. Perhaps, if we stress the noticeable presence of Jesus within the Catholic home, the foundation that Brendan alluded to might be formed on more solid ground and so would be less likely to fade away in the relativist storm that is the university. The effect that our families have on our faith formation is paralleled by few others. If prayer and familial worship become a normalcy in Catholic life, imagine the type of young men and women entering the world. Built on a strong familial prayer life, imagine the influx of young men and women entering the ordained and consecrated life.”

As I think of this traditional feast, I often think of things in my own life as a child which might have been formative. We were not all that great on family prayer except before every meal and occasionally when we were “monitored” at night before going to bed but there was one annual experience which still looms large in my memory and life sixty-five years later. On our annual June family vacation trip to see my paternal grandparents and large family in the Boston, Massachusetts area, the evening meal had to be finished by 6:40 pm so that all of us, three generations could move from the Dining Room to the Living Room and kneel down on the floor while the radio (there was no TV) was properly tuned. At exactly 6:40pm a male voice sounding something like what I thought an archangel would sound like announced, “Live, from the Cardinal’s Residence on Commonwealth Avenue in Brighton, Richard Cardinal Cushing will now lead the faithful of the Archdiocese in reciting the Rosary.” If the announcer had an archangel’s voice, my brothers and I thought the Cardinal sounded like God – nasal, prolonged pronunciation of words, stentorian – it had to be God who spent twenty-minutes each night leading us in this prayer which we seemed only to say in Boston, where God lived. Beyond the sound of the radio, however, remains the image of my then eighty year old plus Grandfather, rosary in his hand, his wife of sixty years, my grandmother with a rosary in her hands, my grandmother’s spinster sister who kept an account of our sins and misbehavings with a rosary in her hands, my mom and dad with rosaries in their hands, and we three boys, skillfully provided the necessary beads by our Mom who feared reprisals if her kids did not have the proper equipment for prayer, all as one family joining God in Hail Marys and Our Fathers and Glory Be’s. As Patrick Sullivan said above, there is power in a family at prayer.

Perhaps on this great feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph those who still have a family about them could think about more time together in prayer. While I desperately want an increase in vocations, I want more young people to remain true to their baptism as Catholic Christians and enlighten the world.

The new shrine to the Holy Family at Holy Family Church in St. Petersburg using an original statue and placing in a spot for prayer and meditation.

Some words later in the week on the meaning of Epiphany and then more silence as I am on retreat. Back for the Baptism of the Lord.

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Many things on my mind today and the week just ended has been one of the most physically taxing in a long time since the normal Advent and pre-Christmas schedule was interrupted by a trip to Baltimore for a meeting at Catholic Relief Services. So, here goes,

Bishop John Noonan was installed as fifth bishop of Orlando on Thursday at the Shrine Basilica of Mary, Queen of the Universe. A congregation in excess of 2,500 warmly welcomed their new shepherd and in his homily, the new shepherd demonstrated the warmth of his love and fondness for his new diocese. The ceremony was quite lovely and lasted less than 105 minutes which is a miracle in itself. Bishop Noonan did a wonderful thing at the end of Mass when in speaking of Advent as the season of hope, he invited all the seminarians present to come forward as witnesses to hope which the faithful should have for their Church. The bishop has spent almost seventeen of his twenty-seven years in the priesthood working in seminary formation at St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami, as Dean of Men and then for a good number of years as President-Rector. About eighty seminarians came forth to a standing and prolonged ovation from the people at the Shrine and proudly I could identify about twenty-five as being from our diocese.

Last night saw the annual Christmas dinner for our seminarians and their families (about 190 persons), their pastors and priest friends, and myself. Following Mass in the St. James Chapel we proceeded to Archbishop Favalora Hall where we had dinner and bade farewell with great gratitude to Father Leonard Plazewski who has held the position of Vocation Director of this diocese for twelve and a half years. An earlier post here indicated the transition and who his replacements would be in that very important position within the diocese. The seminarians are fond of Father Len and so the leave-taking was not that easy for him or for many but the Church of St. Petersburg owes him a debt of thanks for his hard work over the years recruiting and assisting seminarians through to priesthood. It is always wonderful to see our men and their families in a relaxed atmosphere and to begin to acknowledge the coming of Christmas with their return to their homes.

Father Len Plazewski saying his good-by and thanks to those present for the annual Christmas dinner for our seminarians and their families. (Photo courtesy of A. Padilla, seminarian)

The Bethany Center is fast becoming my second home as I seem to be spending many nights there lately. Prior to last night, I held the third of my overnights with our priests, this time being the international priests (born and formed in other countries like Poland, India, African nations, the Philippines, Korea, Vietnam, and Central and South America). Our lengthy conversations about their experiences in coming to minister in the United States and in this diocese were both illuminating and helpful to me. They are a great and generous group of men who understand the challenges of language, culture, accent, etc. and who wish nothing more than to be accepted by me, by you, and by their brother priests as no longer a category (e.g. “international priests”) but just as priests of the diocese.

I have had only one angry over-the-top “comment” to a blog entry here which focused on the lack of a “corpus” (figure of Christ) on the large crucifix at Holy Family Catholic Church and made much of the stained glass window of the “Risen Christ” in the rear of the sanctuary. I regret ruining this readers day then and now as I failed to mention that the wood-carved body of Christ did not arrive on time to be installed on the cross and is due in a few weeks and as for the “stained-glass window”, it was in the church since its first dedication and was a sine qua non for the older parishioners in the renovation. When the figure of Jesus arrives and is placed, I will put a picture here in the profound hope that the reader will calm down but I would bet not. He was from Michigan, anyway, not the parish or the diocese.

This evening a number of the staff of our Pastoral Center gathered at Pinellas Hope to prepare, serve and feed the 262 residents on this cold Florida night. Working without a raise for the last two years, this group paid for the food, prepared it, and served it. I lent them my presence and not my culinary expertise of which I have none.

Pastoral Center staff serving one line at Pinellas Hope on December 19, 2010

Father Bob Morris and his mom also helped out

When the new year begins, forty bishops from the East Coast (the Wilmington diocese down to Miami) will gather for their annual retreat from the 3-7 of January at the Bethany Center. Several Cardinals, four archbishops and the rest bishops will spend their first visit to Bethany being led in our prayer and reflection by Bishop Jaime Soto who is the bishop of Sacramento, California. They are all looking forward to coming back to the Diocese of St. Petersburg after having spent a week here this past summer, hoping for warm weather (a coin toss in early January as we locals know), and ready to enjoy our hospitality and the beauty and comfort of Bethany. So I still have some blogs left in me right up to and including the Feast of the Holy Family a week from today but after that – SILENCE until the 7th of January.

That just about empties the file I have in my mind. Enjoy this final week of hope and expectation.

+RNL

The photos from the rededication of Holy Family Church in St. Petersburg last Saturday have been added to the post about that night.  They show the beauty of the newly-renovated church and are worth a look.

The New Shrine to the Holy Family in the renovated Holy Family Church.

Saturday night was a long-awaited moment in the life of Holy Family parish, St. Petersburg. After a little more than seven months worshipping in a woefully small parish hall with over-flow Masses in the school cafeteria, the great people of Holy Family returned to their Church and found it amazingly remodeled into a beautiful, new house of worship. Begun in 1956 as a parish, and after first worshipping at Northeast High School, then their temporary Church which is now the parish hall, a large fan-shape church was dedicated an altar consecrated on October 7, 1984. I am sure that the parish welcomed and were proud of that building which represented their dreams and sacrifices over twenty-seven years. The sanctuary was very, very small and the Church itself was very dark. Time was not kind to that building and in recent years termites, broken and dangerous pews, a near-defunct mechanical (heating and air-conditioning) system and a veritable laundry list of other material challenges presented themselves to the parish for prayerful reflection and decision.

The new altar in Holy Family Church

Significant consultation preceded the formation of a Steering Committee to guide the development of a plan for remodeling the Church. A capital campaign was launched but approximately one million and indeed the first million was spent on bringing the school up to code, replacing windows whose frames left wide gaps with the structural walls, and new bathrooms for the children quite appropriately had to be responded to first. The Church could wait until the children were guaranteed a safe building in which to study. Over the last year and a half, the parish under the leadership of their pastor, began to flesh out the dream of a remodeled worship space.  What they saw on Saturday night and what I blessed and the new altar I consecrated were both astonishingly beautiful and amazingly simple in design. The Church was made brighter by a new lighting system, its internal walls were removed and replaced, the sanctuary was brought out so that the priest could be seen by everyone in the Church. New pews replaced the dangerously deteriorating, termite infested old pews. A new tile surface was placed on the floor under the congregation and a beautiful tile used in the sanctuary. A new ambo from which the Liturgy of the Word is proclaimed was installed resembling a “table of the word” and it can hydraulically be raised and lowered for a child who serves as lector or a wheel-chair bound person who can now gain access to the sanctuary by a much-needed ramp. There are shrines to the saints, icons to be placed, the artwork of the previous building was preserved and moved to places where it is much more accessible and prayerful, and the stations of the cross lowered and discreetly lit. A new organ and grand piano grace the space. But to me the most stunning new addition is exactly what it should be, the main altar. Made of natural stone, steel and wood, it can not be mistaken for anything but a table where the Eucharist is celebrated and from which we are fed the bread of life and the blood of Christ. Weighing exactly one ton, the new altar in almost any other space would seem to be out of proportion to the environment but in the remodeled Holy Family, it catches one’s eye and you know you are to be invited to and fed from the table of the Lord. There is no ornamentation, just granite, steel and wood triangulating to suggest what an altar should be – a table.

On the Wednesday night last week which was the Holy Day (Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception) I celebrated the seven p.m. Mass in the parish hall with about two-hundred people. While we were praying some one was leafletting the cars in the parking lot warning against the coming abomination of Holy Family Church. Our diocese’s liturgical Thomas Paine (of course, they choose to remain anonymous) railed against the moving of the tabernacle at Holy Family and lots of other things he/she does not like about myself or the diocese or the Universal Church today. The tabernacle is exactly where it was in the former building prior to renovation, beautifully illuminated, and elevated for all to see. I doubt if Father Tapp, Father Mangiafico, and the people of Holy Family will see a “correction” or “Apology” on their windshield anytime soon.

Holy Family after Renovation

It doesn’t matter. When the lights came on during the ceremony lighting up the darkness of an Advent Saturday Vigil Mass, there was an audible gasp as how beautiful their new worship space is and a strong sense of pride at what they had accomplished. From where I sit, I can say without fear of contradiction, that led by Father Tapp and his Steering Committee, the parish received a lot of “bang for the buck” using the same building as before but restoring it to a beauty that will last far longer than that which went before it. Congratulations Holy Family for a vision well executed and a dream for many come true.

If you want to watch the video series which Holy Family had on their website throughout the renovation, you can view them on YouTube.  If you are interested, here is a PDF copy of my homily.  Here are some more photos from that evening.

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+RNL