I have had a great week in so many ways which I wish to share with the readers of this blog. My Thanksgiving began with a Liturgy of Thanksgiving last Wednesday on the night before the great American holiday. With the Cathedral church closed for remodeling, the Mass was celebrated in the parish hall where a very lovely temporary worship space has been created and the children’s choir reminded all in attendance of innocence, spirit, gratitude and joy. My brother came down from Buffalo to be with my nephew (his son) and we had Thanksgiving dinner together for the first time in a long time. Brother Tim, whom many of you met only rhetorically from the train trip across America in June, was unable to come up from South Florida not because, for once, of any physical limitation he has at the moment, but the need to care for a very special person in his life who is suffering from very severe back pain. Nephew Chris and his wife, Julie, and their two year old daughter Brinleah plus their 8/9th second daughter (due January 3, 2013) hosted not just myself but several others who had no place to go to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner.

On Friday, I celebrated Mass at St. Clement’s Church in Plant City which is beginning to celebrate the centennial (100 years) of the celebration of the first Mass in that small city. About 300 people gathered to thank the good Lord for 100 years of blessings and faith and it was a lovely Eucharistic celebration.

On Saturday, I hosted about twenty people to watch the Notre Dame-Southern California game at my residence. The rule was that hamburgers and hot dogs would be served between 7 and 8pm after which the cook/chef (moi) would retire to concentrate on the game. Ninety minutes prior to the beginning of the game, my cable box blew out and I was certain that tragedy had struck. But a second cable box in the bedroom was moved to the Florida room and none of my guests were even aware of the trauma that preceded their arrival. The outcome of the game, of course, made rest come easy that night but it was one a.m. before the mess was cleaned up and the bishop could retire.

Sunday began with a Mass during which I installed Father Damian, T.O.R. as pastor of old St. Mary’s in downtown St. Petersburg. A full Church and a magnificent choir contributed to the spirit of thankfulness the people held in their hearts for both Father Cletus Watson who had to retire from being pastor (he still lives there and assists) and for Father Damian whom they had come to know well in the last year. Prior to coming to St. Mary’s he had been pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Bradenton and lots of his old parishioners were present to pray him well.

With Wilfredo and Suzanne Huertas, and Rev. Anthony Coppola of Sacred Heart Parish in Pinellas Park. Photo kindness Ray Bassett.

One of the nicest things I do each year occurs on the Solemnity of Christ the King when I present the diocesan medal struck in honor of our patron saint, the apostle Jude, to nominees from each parish and mission in the diocese (view photos by clicking here). Accompanied in almost every instance by their pastor or occasionally their assistant pastor, these people who have given years of quiet and humble service approach the altar and receive their medal and a picture taken with me of that moment. Many are weeping tears of joy and humility as they come forward. None of them do for God and His Church anything to eventually cop this recognition. In fact, I always say that if you think you deserved this moment and medal, you probably don’t, but if you think you are unworthy and should not be receiving it, then you are exactly who it was meant for. Great people receive this medal annually, and before them I am humbled.

On Monday, I met with the Presbyteral Council and they talked about many things. It was one of those meetings where I could sit back and enjoy the conversation as they wrestled with giving me advice on issues of some moment and consequence. There was a great, lively and honest discussion and progress was made on several fronts. After lunch I reviewed the results of a number of studies about the Church in the US at this precise moment and said that the statistics needed to help us develop a pastoral plan for the short-term future. For instance, there are 75 million Americans who identify themselves as Catholic but only 17 million are in Church every Sunday. 68% of those who identify themselves indicate that they would not advise a young person to consider a vocation to the priestly or religious life. I’ll be sharing more of these realities with you in the coming months here as we discuss them in the Diocesan Pastoral Council and the Presbyteral Council. They are important for the future.

Bishop Joseph E. Strickland. Photo courtesy of the Diocese of Tyler website.

Finally, yesterday (Wednesday) I was in Tyler, Texas for the ordination of a young new bishop whom I have known for some time through a mutual friend, Archbishop Michael Sheehan of Santa Fe (instrumental in both of our priestly vocations and who preached both of our first Masses as priests). Bishop Joseph E. Strickland is a priest of the same diocese he is now called to serve as bishop which is rare in episcopal appointments in the United States. But the priests and people of Tyler loved him and yesterday they showed it many times during the ordination ceremony. Tyler is in east Texas, about 150 miles east of Dallas from which it was mostly cut off in 1986. It has 89,000 Catholics now and is one of the more missionary of the Texas dioceses. Tyler is the “Rose Capitol” of the world, or so it claims and so does the Papal Bull of appointment (Father Reginald Foster in Rome or whomever must have had fun writing that one for the Holy Father to approve). Fall is just now beginning to arrive in East Texas so I will end by quoting those lovely lines from Louis Armstrong, “I SEE LEAVES OF GREEN, RED ROSES TOO, …WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD.”

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With Sister Emeline Schneider, OSF, one of the three religious jubilarians celebrating 70 years professed. Photo courtesy of Maria Mertens.

People often ask me what gives me the greatest joy in being a bishop and I respond unfailingly, ordaining priests, rite of election, and acknowledging the talents and gifts of many people serving the Church in the diocese humbly and joyfully. Well this week-end I was on overload starting with a Mass and luncheon for nineteen religious women and men whose combined service to the Church as professed religious amounted to 1000 years. We had three seventy-year professed/ordained jubilarians, all of whom are still quite active in their ministry. Organized annually by our Office of the Vicar for Religious, I look forward to Mass and lunch with these great women and men. There is to be found not one scintilla of regret or unhappiness in the life lived, but a joy which is contagious, infectious and life-giving. If you wish to know the names of those jubilarians honored this year, click here.

On Sunday, the Solemnity of Christ the King, for the last twelve years we have honored women and men from almost all of the parishes and missions of the diocese for their service to their Church. When instituted there was some resistance to the idea of singling out people annually. First, there was a fear that to honor one person would upset others but that quickly went away when all came to realize the true servants of the Gospel in our parishes and missions do not seek or wish for any recognition and are embarrassed if given it. So from the outset, parish communities were proud of those whom either their parish council or pastor chose for the honor. A second concern was that it might be difficult to sustain an annual honoree since the pool was “limited.” I did not believe that for the moment as there is an endless pool of generosity in our parishes and many people who could in time be selected to receive the honor. We named it after the patron saint of the diocese, St. Jude the Apostle.

With the St. Jude the Apostle Medal recipient from St. Anthony the Abbot Parish in Brooksville, Dianne Swain, and Reverend Craig Morley. Photo courtesy of Ray Bassett from Maddock Photography.

The Cathedral of St. Jude was almost full to capacity yesterday afternoon as in addition to their pastors and spouses, the honorees often were accompanied by loving and admiring children and grandchildren. To a man and woman, they always approach me and say something like, “Bishop, I am embarrassed because I am not worthy of such an honor” and I know that is exactly the kind of person the award was designed to thank. They receive a beautiful medal bearing on one side the image of St. Jude the Apostle and on the other side the diocesan coat-of-arms with the inscription, “St. Jude the Apostle Award.” The list of those honored yesterday can be seen by clicking here.

Finally, today I celebrated Mass with and invited to lunch the retired priests of the diocese and others who served other local churches and religious communities but who are retired and living in the diocese. Our senior priest is Monsignor George Cummings who is well into his nineties and close behind is Father James Hoge, OSB of St. Leo Abbey. This too is an annual event in one of the three days that run up to Thanksgiving on Thursday. I had this idea the first year I was here, certain that some of these men had no where to go for Thanksgiving and we needed an annual opportunity to thank them and encourage them. Now that I am seventy and a half years old, you will probably find me putting into place a lot of things which will help guarantee that the local Church does not forget those who have served so well for so many years (there is a growing sense of self-interest I told my confessor).

With the retired clergy gathered for the pre-Thanksgiving Mass. Photo courtesy of Deacon Rick Wells.

We had sixty-one for Mass and lunch at the Bethany Center at midday today and any bishop who does not love the wisdom, wit and commitment of his retired priests is not living on planet earth. I love and respect these men so much. I know that one or more may not be here next year and that we are all preparing for the moment when we enter eternal life now more than perhaps when we were younger. I attach my homily this morning and you can read it, if you wish, by clicking here. By the way, the reference to my culinary nemesis “vegetables” is today’s first reading which is taken from the Book of Daniel, 1:8-20 in which Daniel and his brothers grew more healthy when sticking to a vegetarian diet. My how I am glad that such “penance” is not an article of faith!

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Front of the St. Jude the Apostle Award Medal

This blog entry has absolutely nothing to do with the table to be set on Thursday. Rather, I want to take a few moments to recapture the wonderful spirit present at the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle yesterday when we awarded the St. Jude the Apostle diocesan medal to women and men from our parishes and missions who have given so generously of their time and talent.  For me it is a wonderful and humbling moment to see these recipients who never sought or wished for any public recognition for the service they have rendered approach and receive their medal.

The ceremony takes place within the context of Solemn Evening Prayer on the Solemnity of Christ the King. Eleven years ago I chose this particular date for the first such ceremony because it is the day we reflect on the kingship of a man who came “to serve and not to be served.”

Here are the names of this year’s recipients and the parish or mission which chose them for the honor.

Finally, about five years ago we began to designate some person to receive the medal for their service to the diocese. This year’s very worthy recipient was Helen Marston, for many years the principal of Sr. Cecilia Elementary School and more recently both Assistant Superintendent of Schools for the diocese and for a few brief months this year our acting superintendent. When I told her colleagues in Catholic education my intention to award the St. Jude medal to Helen, they burst into loud and long applause. Helen lost her beloved husband, Bob, this year so my prayer is that in the loving support of others encapsulated in this year’s award, some of the tough and penetrating sense of loss can be ameliorated.

Congratulations again to all the recipients.

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Bishop Lynch presents Helen Marston the St. Jude the Apostle Award Medal while her brother shares in the moment.

Cathedral of St. James, Orlando

Today I attended the rededication of the Cathedral of St. James in our neighboring diocese of Orlando. As my regular readers know, both the dioceses of St. Petersburg and Orlando were created on the same date in 1968. When a new diocese is erected, usually one Church is chosen to be the Cathedral Church for the new diocese and is announced on the same date, with said designation coming from the Holy See after consultation with the local churches. In Orlando, the original Cathedral was St. Charles Borromeo and the first bishop of Orlando, the late Archbishop William Donald Borders was installed as its first bishop there. However, St. Charles experienced a catastrophic fire and it fell to the second bishop, +Thomas Grady to select another Church for the “mother church” of the growing diocese and he chose the downtown parish of St. James, much smaller in size, seating about 500-600 people. Normally a church chosen to be a Cathedral Church remains that way for ever but except for the great basilicas of Europe, in the United States almost every Cathedral Church will go through some remodel and/or refinish every fifty years or so. The Cathedral of St. Augustine was restored and remodeled once in my lifetime, Miami’s Cathedral has been significantly altered twice in the last thirty years. Palm Beach whose Cathedral of St. Ignatius is the youngest at thirty-six years has been totally redone from its original plan.

Several years ago, Orlando’s fourth bishop, Thomas Wenski, embarked on a project to renovate and remodel St. James, adding seating space, improving sight lines, and truly creating a “cathedral” which takes its name from the presence of a permanent chair or in Latin Cathedra from which the bishops presides and celebrates the major functions of the diocese: ordinations, Chrism Masses, Holy Week and Christmas midnight, etc. The newly redone St. James now seats about 1000 people, artfully done by taking a challenging footprint and expanding out on one side with an enlarged transept and on the other with a daily Mass chapel which will also seat a large number of people who can participate in the Mass through glass.

Sanctuary of the Cathedral of St. James, Orlando

The sanctuary is larger and more functional for diocesan ceremonies and all inside the Cathedral feel a sense of closeness to a permanent, granite main altar. Since Catholic liturgy has three parts as we have featured in our own diocese during the last three years, the new St. James has a very impressive granite ambo from which the Liturgy of the Word is proclaimed. Behind the main altar and the granite cathedra are panels of art work depicting major moments in the life of Christ and there is a half-dome presenting the Blessed Mother. I am including some pictures to give you an idea of the finished product.

At moments like today, the Cathedral or any church which has been built from scratch or substantially remodeled is full of priest architects who can be heard saying to their neighboring priests either “I wonder why he did that?” or “I would have done it this way!” Bishops give in to the same temptation as well but over-all, given the space and footprint with which they worked here in Orlando, I think they have done a very fine job of transforming basically a downtown parish Church into a Cathedral.

Baptismal Font in the Cathedral of St. James, Orlando

I have more than a passing interest in today’s rededication because our own Cathedral of St. Jude needs attention badly. Earlier this year, for the first time in over fifty years, we replaced the mechanical system (air conditioning and heating) at the tune of $550,000. Our Cathedral needs another 3 million dollars worth of work just to keep its doors open (pointing, roofing, new doors and window sealing up the leaks of both, new pews to replace the rotting original pews in the Church, etc.) My consultative bodies along with the parishioners or St. Jude’s have been working on a redesign of a Church which was never designed in the first place to be a Cathedral church but was chosen simply because of its size and newness in 1968. So today was a busman’s holiday for me, sitting back and not doing too much praying but rather watching and thinking.

Archbishop  Wenski who was installed as Archbishop of Miami in June returns to his old diocese today but his successor has already been named as you know from reading this blog and will be officially installed as the fifth bishop of Orlando on December 16th. And to him went the honor last night, presiding at Evening Prayer in the Cathedral of St. James the Apostle, Bishop John Noonan was the first to occupy the bishop’s chair, cathedra.

Tomorrow, Christ the King and the St. Jude the Apostle awards at our own Cathedral.

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Yesterday I presented the St. Jude the Apostle Award to over 70 recipients from most of the parishes and missions of our diocese. This annual award instituted some ten years ago is given to a person or couple who in the mind of their pastor, parish council or parish staff works tirelessly and quietly for their parishes throughout the years. I often say when I give these out, “If you wanted the award you probably should not have received it, but if you feel humbled and honored to receive something you never thought of, then this day and this medal is for you.” We award it during solemn evening prayer on the Solemnity of Jesus Christ our King who precisely as “king” came to serve and not to be served. Pilate never got it when he questioned Jesus about his “kingship” but all of those receiving the St. Jude award yesterday understand it perfectly. I list of this year’s recipients by parish and/or mission appears or soon will appear on the diocesan web-site. At the same time as the awards, there were 46 alleged “saints” on the field at Raymond James Stadium (all from New Orleans of all places) while I had 74 at St. Jude’s Cathedral. How sweet was that!

Saturday night I was fortunate enough to preside at the 50th Anniversary  Closing Mass for Tampa’s St. Lawrence parish. An almost full church for Mass and over 400 for dinner in Higgins Hall afterward indicates the special place this parish occupies in the hearts and minds of its parishioners. It has had only two pastors in its fifty year history, Monsignor Laurence Higgins and for the past three years, Father Thomas Morgan, a graduate of St. Lawrence elementary. Both men were greeted by long and sustained applause for their pastoral zeal. The Sisters of St. Clare who originally staffed the elementary school were represented at the Mass and were also warmly acknowledged. A great parish with a great history closing its first five decades with the prayerful hope for many more great years, Congratulations to them.

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There are many occasions in the life of a bishop which bring great happiness and I can not and will not offer a “litany” of those occasions today or give a taxative list. Obviously ordinations, the Rite of Election, the Chrism Mass rank right up there. In this diocese, however, today was one of those better moments when at St. Jude’s Cathedral I conferred the St. Jude the Apostle Award on 76 great people of this diocese.  (more…)

Hay muchas ocasiones en la vida de un obispo que traen gran felicidad pero no ofreceré una gran “lista” de esas ocasiones hoy. Obviamente el día de ordenación, el día del Rito de Elección y el día de la Misa Crismal se encuentran bien alto en esa lista. Pero en esta diócesis, hoy fue uno de esos mejores momentos, cuando en la catedral de San Judas le entregué a 76 maravillosas personas de esta diócesis la Medalla del Apóstol San Judas   (more…)