358 couples gathered to celebrate twenty-five, fifty, or more years of marriage during the Wedding Jubilee Mass at Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle. Photo courtesy of Maria Mertens.

If the Bible is the all time best selling book year after year in the publishing business, I would be willing to wager that the tiny booklet entitled TOGETHER FOR LIFE, written years ago by Syracuse diocesan priest, Monsignor Joseph Champlin is the best seller among Catholics. Used by practically every engaged couple preparing for marriage, this compendium of the possible readings one might choose to be proclaimed at ones’ wedding, the choices of prayers, prefaces, nuptial blessings (a few of which are very sexist) and prayers over the couples allow those approaching the sacrament to plan almost every last detail of their liturgical ceremony with greater ease I often say than planning the reception, the honeymoon, the rehearsal dinner, etc.

Barbara and Bob Owens, from St. Ignatius of Antioch parish, renewing their vows. They are celebrating 25 years of marriage. Photo courtesy of Maria Mertens.

On Sunday in our Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle, about 358 couples from 60 of our parishes came to celebrate twenty-five and fifty or more years of marriage – truly together for life. There was an abundance of joy in that Church on Sunday for what was basically a simple Sunday Liturgy with a renewal of marriage vows thrown in for good measure. All total there were some 17, 793 years of successful married life there staring each other in the face, looking at one another and holding right hands, repeating the words of many years ago.

Greeting John and Mary Kampschroer, from St. Thomas Aquinas parish, celebrating 71 years of marriage. Photo courtesy of Maria Mertens.

Two couples were celebrating special milestones:  one their seventy-first anniversary and the second their seventy-second anniversary. John and Mary Kampschroer,     originally from Wisconsin and from our St. Thomas Aquinas parish in New Port Richey, were present for their 71st anniversary. Normally, that would have taken the proverbial “cake” and they would have walked off with first prize.

However, Toan and Chai Nguyen, a Vietnamese couple who could speak no English, dressed in traditional Vietnamese clothes, have been married 72 years, tying the knot in their native Vietnam on November 11, 1940. Their marriage brought 12 children into the world who have given them 54 grandchildren, who have given them 57 great-grandchildren. They are from our St. Thomas the Apostle parish in Homasassa. Together for life and not in the most easy of circumstances either.

Greeting Toan and Chai Nguyen, parishioners at St. Thomas the Apostle, who have been married for 72 years. Photo courtesy of Maria Mertens.

The Gospel today spoke of the incredible power of “touch” when Jesus touched the leper and healed him even though to do so was against the law and anyone caught doing it was immediately considered unclean themselves. I reminded our jubilarians how important that gift of touch most likely was in their married lives and how it too healed at extremely difficult moments. An embrace when a child dies, a kiss to end a brief spat, a hug when one has been aware for days and returns to their spouse. Then I asked them to once again touch one another’s hands and “repeat after me.”

Marriage Jubilee Sunday and the Church’s World Day for Married Couples are among my most pleasant annual duties. It took about as long to stand for pictures following the Mass as did the liturgy before it, but the gratitude of the couples always makes me realize just how much the gift of presence and touch can mean. To each I spoke a “Happy Anniversary” followed by the photographer’s equally automatic, “look this way and smile please.” Together for Life – how sweet it must be!

The number of couples who attended:

59 couples celebrating their twenty-fifth anniversary

133 couples celebrating their fiftieth anniversary

88 couples celebrating their 51st through 59th anniversary

76 couples celebrating their 61st through 69th anniversary

1 couple celebrating their 71st anniversary

1 couple celebrating their 72nd anniversary

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Monsignor Aidan Foynes, Ordained June 4, 1961 on the occasion of his fiftieth anniversary of ordination. Photo courtesy of Brandon and Michelle Horn

This past week-end was quite an exercise in sacramental theology as well as one of strength and stamina. It must be something akin to hitting a home run and then having to run and touch the four bases. On Saturday I began with a large confirmation at St. Paul’s parish in Carrollwood, Tampa. 197 young women and men presented themselves for the sacrament which for me translates into about two hours of energy to be expended. They were a wonderful class, well prepared and very serious. I was constantly conscious of the fact that about two hundred of their family and friends were unable to find seats and would be standing throughout the Mass. About two-thirds of the way through the confirmation rite itself, a first occurred. A young man after I had confirmed him and spoken briefly to him asked, “May I give you a hug?” Before I could answer he had enveloped me in a big hug and said “thanks” and then departed. I looked at the pastor, Father Len Piotrowski, who said to me “that was not in the script!” Before long it became the thing to do, with about another fifteen men and women leaving me with a big hug. I could only think “how long would we be here if all 197 did the same?” We would likely still be there on Monday.

Brian and Kelsey Christian with Brian's uncle Fr. Jim Johnson

Saturday evening at the Cathedral I celebrated the Mass and preached at a nuptial Mass for one of my long time servers at St. Jude’s during his High School and College days, Brian Christian and his new wife Kelsey. Brian’s uncle is Father Jim Johnson, the pastor of Our Lady of Fatima parish in Inverness and Director of Good Counsel Camp. He actually performed the marriage ceremony. It was in many ways a simple wedding and a simple reception. As I have mentioned here in prior posts, it is a good thing that I do not do many weddings as I am very rusty and could easily skip a major part, like the Nuptial Blessing if not careful or with assistance. I was honored to have been invited to participate in an event which focused mainly on the marriage moment and not so much on the reception which would follow.

On Sunday morning I began by visiting one of our pastors, Father George Rozycki of St. Joseph’s parish in Zephyrhills, who is in Tampa General for tests and exploratory procedures. Please keep Father George in your prayers as at this moment his situation seems ominous. Those of you who know Tampa General know that it is possible to get lost easily and walk miles from car to bedside. It took me twice as long to find Father George and return to my car as the thirty minutes I was able to spend with him.

From the bedside of a pastor to a celebration of fifty years of priestly ministry, I then drove yesterday morning to St. Cecilia parish in Clearwater where the parish, family and friends celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of ordination of Monsignor Aidan Foynes, its retired pastor and a wonderful priest of this diocese. Monsignor preached and I sat entranced and entralled by his words. I mentioned to the gathered that bishops do not often get a chance to hear their priests preach because when we are present we seem to trump them and are always called upon to preach. What a pity because Monsignor Foynes with a wonderful combination of Irish wit and deep insight into the mystery of priesthood almost brought me to tears at moments and to laughter at others. The love in the Church for this gentle servant of the Gospel was palpable. So the third base sacrament this week-end was a renewed sense of gratitude for Holy Orders.

But there was one more to come as I rounded third and headed to St. Mark’s parish in New Tampa for yet another confirmation, this time with 97 candidates and thankfully no hugs. The ceremony was beautiful, the Church was packed, the music great and the young women and men serious and well prepared. I came home exhausted, climbed into bed and thanked God for the home run opportunity He gave me this week-end to celebrate four sacraments of the Church.

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Two years ago I took AMTRAK back to Tampa from the Fall General Meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and during that trip I wrote my first entry on my new blog site. You know the rest of the story. Well, this evening I am on the “SILVER METEOR” which is neither silver nor meteoric in its speed. As a matter of fact, we are this moment stopped at the station serving Richmond, Virginia. But it is a very restful way to ease back into diocesan life and gives me ample opportunity to reflect on the week that was.

Our agenda this week was light and there were no good arguments which serve to liven up the long sessions of presentations and listening. My vote for the new President of the Conference was in vain as my Vice-Presidential preference leap-frogged my Presidential preference.

Tonight, however, my mind seems intent on focusing on whether or not we did anything helpful for the priests, deacons, religious and faithful of the St. Petersburg diocese and my instinct says not really. We seem, to my mind, these days to spend a lot of time “navel-gazing” – talking about budgets and assessments, etc., at least in the public sessions. The Executive Sessions did address issues of greater concern to pastoral ministry but I respect the confidential nature of those discussions.

I have been thinking a lot about the number of people who are leaving the Church and the possible reasons for this. I am thinking about the sacrament of marriage which is under challenge from several directions such as its very definition which we do talk about but today there were results announced of a recent Pew Research Study which found that 39% of adults surveyed said that “marriage is becoming obsolete,” that couples that do get married do so later in life (28.6 for men and 26.1 for women) and therefore, no surprise 44% of adults lived together before marriage among whom 64% said they considered it a step towards marriage. While we have expressed strong support for the definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman, I don’t think we have ever pastorally addressed what every priest in my diocese knows, couples are not coming to the Church to get married in significant numbers or at least the same numbers.

Then I think about my task of being a leader to my priests. There is theologically one priesthood in the Diocese of St. Petersburg but there are at least three different categories of priests: those sixty and above who see the end in sight, those forty-five through sixty who sometimes dread the way in which they see the priesthood and Church in the U.S. going, and the younger priests filled with enthusiasm who seem to say that we are not adapting quickly enough to what is needed, sometimes what was a part and parcel of the past but which fell into some disuse following the Second Vatican Council which for them is largely a historical moment as Trent is for me.

Then there are the youth. I had lunch with two young students of Loyola Baltimore during my stay this week and their love for their faith and the amount of time they give to sharing it with their peers is just this side of incredible – a sign of hope in an ocean of disconnect for many their age.

These are some of the pastoral challenges which it would help for me to spend time on and perhaps at some moment they will be resolved. Until then I can only listen and lead. Arriving in Petersburg, Virginia, the porter wants to put my bed down for me (so he can go to bed himself I suspect for a precious few hours). It’s a cold night in southern Virginia but tomorrow morning I will wake up in Florida warmth and so will my hope and love for the Church.

All Aboard!

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For a Lenten week-end, it has been kind of crazy. First, last night (Saturday night) Transfiguration parish in St. Petersburg celebrated its golden anniversary as a parish with a Mass and dinner. I celebrated the Mass and preached the homily. For a long time I could not figure out why a parish would choose a week-end in Lent to celebrate  an anniversary, until I started looking at the readings and discovered that the Gospel was Luke’s account of the Transfiguration of the Lord. However, even with that Lent is a time during which we all need to hear again and again the call to conversion and more radical discipleship. I left uncertain as to whether or not I had served the parish occasion or the scriptures well. Preaching is always a challenge for me though some would likely dispute it but when one is a bishop, the occasions often tend to suffocate the liturgical seasons. Congratulations to Transfiguration parish on five decades of existence and service to God’s people, to Monsignor Avellino Garcia, its pastor and to its tri-cultural community who respect one another’s traditions, language and style of worship (Anglo, Hispanic and a growing Tongan community).

Today I found myself still celebrating the Second Sunday of Lent but it was Marriage Jubilee Mass afternoon at the Cathedral of St. Jude. 390 couples from around the diocese gathered for this annual celebration representing 19,697 combined years of marriage. Here are the statistics:

• 60 parishes represented  with 54 couples celebrating twenty-fiver years of marriage sometime this year
• 138 celebrating fifty years
• 122 celebrating between fifty-one and fifty-nine years
• 75 married over 60 years.

Bishop Lynch Congratulating Charles and Barbara Wellen for their 71 years of married life. Photo credit: John Christian.

Charles and Barbara Wellen were present today as the longest married couple in the Cathedral, an amazing 71 years. They have four sons, fourteen grandchildren and thirty-five great grandchildren celebrating the occasion with them. When I asked the assembly to stand and to face each other, join their right hands and renew their wedding vows, they looked at one another with the same eyes and delight at they must have shown on the day of their wedding.

Marriage is another sacrament of the Church which is in some trouble. We notice less and less young people coming to Church for weddings and from time to time I will see that a certain graduate(s) of our Catholic high schools will have gotten married on the beach, at Disney World or some other secular place. Being married in a Catholic Church no longer carries for many of our baptized the reality of yet another sacramental encounter with Jesus and so it is abandoned or ignored. Granted, it is not always easy to get married in a Catholic Church. There is a lengthy period and program of preparation but those couples who still embrace the sacrament in Church often comment how beneficial the program was to them even if there was initial reluctance. One of my pastors once commented that there is less time on Saturday for marriage in most of our Churches since the advent of the Saturday Vigil Mass for Sunday. Where once there may have been two or three slots in the afternoons for weddings, there is now likely only one.

I also think sometimes that like many other things in society and our world today, the indissolubility of marriage which the Church proclaims leads some to just ignore sacramental marriage in the Catholic Church. It has become somewhat easy to  get out of most of our fiduciary responsibilities (via bankruptcy, abandonment, dissolution of prior promises) and perhaps Church weddings just do not seem that important any more, especially a Church which takes the vows of fidelity “until death do us part” so seriously.

The bishops of the United States addressed the issue of marriage in the Church in a document released this last Fall and have established “strengthening marriage” (http://www.foryourmarriage.org) as one of the five primary goals and objectives of USCCB activity.

Today in the Cathedral the fundamental and enduring grace of the sacrament of marriage was present for all to see. I know how tough it can be to endure “good times and bad, sickness and health. . .” but 390 couples came to Mass today to ask God’s help in strengthening their promises and providing abundant blessings until “death do them part.”

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First, a confession. I spent all day in a clinic and in doctors’ offices for regular post-op visits. All went very well on that front. What I was not able to do was watch the live video of the second day of the annual Fall meeting so for these reflections, I am dependent on news reports from CNS and other sources. As you know, EWTN is not carrying the bishops’ meeting this year, gavel to gavel, so it was not possible  for me to record the meeting and watch it this evening. Anyway, here goes.

Most all the action items passed with sizable majorities. While almost every action item had one or two votes against, this preventing a unanimous action of the assembly, I have always held that if the Nicene Creed  (the one we recite and pray at Mass) were placed before the bishops, it too would garner two or three negative votes.

One item which had the largest number of “no” votes was a proposed pastoral letter on marriage. Although the bishops’ National Advisory Council encouraged a “yes” vote on the proposed pastoral, bishops who spoke today felt that while there was nothing wrong with the proposed text, there were some issues and passages which could have been rendered better . The pastoral received five more votes than necessary for passage. The bishops also overwhelmingly approved a revision in the “Ethical and Religious Directives” which guide local bishops, health care facilities, doctors and nurses in hard decisions about medical treatment in an age when technology allows life to be maintained and sustained for years. The Pro-Life Committee saw their work product, a statement on life and birth in a technological age pass by a wide margin. All of these actions are available to you now on the USCCB web site.

The long work on a new translation of the Roman Missal is over and now Rome’s approval is awaited. Sometime in 2011, the new Missal will be implemented in the English speaking world. We will have to get use to some new language and there will be a period of catechesis in 2010 and early 2011 which I and our priests will lead to get you ready for the changes.

Finally, several bishops came to the defense of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development whose collection will be taken up this coming week-end in churches throughout the U.S. Founded about 30 years ago, CCHD has given grants to many organizations and agencies and sponsored an education program on the roots of poverty. Conservatively oriented Catholics have beeb taking shots at CCHD since its inception. Several years ago it was learned that a grant recipient was ACORN which was involved in projects not in accord with Catholic teaching. Several years ago before the US Government and Congress became aware of ACORN’s malfeasance, CCHD had dropped all support for this organization. I personally believe in and support CCHD and feel that our bishops’ committee  has acted responsibly with regard to this challenge.

That’s it from m perspective. Some final thoughts and notes on the meeting tomorrow.

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Today at the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle  we celebrated our annual Marriage Jubilee Mass honoring those celebrating 25, 40, and 50 years of marriage and up. The couples in the Church represented a total of  12,240 years of married life and they broke down in the following numbers:

241 couples present  -  28 celebrating 25 years of marriage – 92 celebrating 50 years of marriage – 75 celebrating 51 to 59 years married – 45 married over 60 years….

Alberta and Fred Hartlage, married 71 years

Fred and Alberta Hartlage from St. Lawrence parish in Tampa were the couple at the Cathedral married the longest. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Mr. and Mrs. Hartlage will celebrate their 71st anniversary on November 24th. They have six children, twelve grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren.

Photos by John Christian

I remember my first year when at this Mass I approached a couple married seventy-four years. As I gave them their special awards for the longest married couple in attendance, with the microphone fully on, I asked the wife, “In seventy four years have you ever thought of leaving or divorcing him?” “No” she said, “but I have thought several times of killing him.”

Most of the time when I talk to those married many years, they will talk about the element of faith in their lives and how it has sustained them. Today the Church universal celebrated the anniversary of the Lord’s baptism by John in the Jordan. Appropriate time, I think, to recall still another sacramental moment and encounter with Christ in marriage.

As all locals who are reading this blog know, this diocese is approaching the half way point in our attempt to refocus our people on the great gift of the Eucharist to we who are Catholics. There are signs that the initiative is working and taking hold. At the end of the three years, we will probably need some measure of its successes and failures and whether or not in the end it was worth the effort. The priests are all telling me that it has been so far and that is a great marker.

It might make sense to attempt to focus on marriage when the three year program on the Eucharist concludes. Marriage is in trouble not just in our culture but also in our Church. It pains me when from time to time I read the wedding announcements only to find “So and so of such and such and a graduate of ________ Catholic High School married so and so of such and such and a graduate of __________ Catholic High School on St. Petersburg Beach.” More and more Catholics are choosing not to be married in Church. Something needs to be done and soon to at least stem if not reverse this trend. Marriage is a sacrament when it is entered properly, according to the mind of Christ and the Church. Looking out on the full Cathedral this afternoon, I could not help but think that these people were there today because three people were integral to their married life: each other and God.

Congratulations to all who came to the Cathedral today and health, happiness and holiness in the remaining years of your married life, till death do you part.

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I am getting plenty of opportunities lately to practice my Spanish. This morning I celebrated Mass acknowledging forty years of the Spanish Cursillo movement in the Diocese of St. Petersburg. Within days of the official creation of the St. Petersburg diocese, there was the first Cursillo week-end in Spanish. English language cursillos followed about a year later. In the ’70′s and ’80′s the Cursillo movement was quite active and many women and men rediscovered the beauty of their faith during these week-ends of prayer, reflection, Eucharist, reconciliation and support. (more…)