For His Friends

Two years ago the diocese began its catechesis on the Eucharist and I wrote and published a pastoral letter entitled, Gathered, Nourished and Sent. In the first year we concentrated on the place of the Liturgy of the Word in our Eucharistic Liturgy, last year our focus was on the Eucharistic Liturgy itself and this year we conclude with our emphasis drawn from the words of the great St. Augustine, “Become whom you receive” or to put it in other ways, be Jesus to the world in which we live. At the conclusion of every Mass we are bid by the celebrant or deacon to go forth, be sent, in peace and love, with God and with one another.

Our third and final and largest convocation will take place this April 30th and May 1st at the Tampa Bay Convention Center. I will have more to say about this in the weeks ahead but no one should miss the opportunity of hearing the former Master General of the worldwide Dominican Order (OP’s), Father Timothy Radcliffe or Father J. Bryan Hehir of the Archdiocese of Boston and Harvard University.  Very few US dioceses have an opportunity like we do during these days.

I have published an appendix to my previous pastoral letter which is making the rounds throughout the country (Origins) and focuses in a special way on our Christian duty as baptized Catholics to take seriously our mission (sent) to the world. If you wish to read it in either English or Spanish, you may do so simply by click on the proper language choice below.

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Pastoral Letter Supplement: English, Spanish

1. That I am still alive to celebrate Thanksgiving 2009 with both my brothers still alive, my niece and nephew and their spouses all who were at my side even though I was unaware of it, my friends from everywhere I have lived and worked. Special thanks to Drs. Reilly, Williams, Boulay, Abel and Rizzo, CPICU staff and especially JD and Jim, Therapy persons like Kathy, Jed, my special PT person at St. Anthony whose first name I am unable to remember due to a senior moment  Marcelo, Jennifer, Hermine, Anne Marie, Adela, Kathy B., Ann, Debbie, Beverly, Walter, Lori, Jeri and to Father John Tapp and Father Bob Morris who stood vigil through what had to be one of the longest days and nights of their life. All of you made this Thanksgiving possible and may God bless you all.

2. That thousands of people, most of whom I do not know, have been praying for me since July 27th raising my spirits and helping my recovery.

3. That I have been attended to by the finest surgeon, doctors and nurses and nurses-aids since becoming so sick.

4. That I have a group of priests who have been patient with me, supportive of my enduring the challenges of serious illness and whom I love and think the world of. Now I just need to be more patient with them and perhaps even more supportive in return.

5. That I live in the United States and enjoy so many of the blessings God has bestowed on this nation.

6. That late in life I have been “gifted” with an experience of suffering and uncertainty which I hope as I get stronger I can share with many who also carry the same burdens. Our Gospel is a message of hope.

7. During this time of my long road to recovery that our local Church has been led by Father Bob Morris, our Vicar General, and Elizabeth Deptula, Joan Morgan, Frank Murphy and the wonderful, committed people of our diocesan staff in seeing that the work of the Church continues successfully.

8. Apropos of number 7 above, that I have finally learned that it is not all about me, and that none of us are irreplaceable. It is one of the Lord’s gifts to His Church.

9. That I was baptized into the Catholic faith and am taking more seriously than ever before what it means to be “gathered, nourished and sent”, looking forward to our final convocation in May 2010 and more convinced than ever that the Lord has left me here to proclaim His presence in the sacraments of the Church.

10. This list of things to be thankful for could go on and on but I finish with the thought that I am so gifted to have been planted in this Church of St. Petersburg with its priests, deacons, religious women and men, and active, committed laity for whom faith is more than an obligation but rather a gift. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Bishop Lynch

Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago and currently President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has written a new book entitled The Difference God Makes. It will make its first appearance in the United States this Wednesday and I have already ordered a copy from one of the on-line booksellers. Cardinal George has assembled in the book a selection of his speeches, homilies and writings and because I have such respect for his intellect and theological insight I look forward to reading the book when it arrives.

The “mother” of all Catholic blogs, Whispers in the Loggia excerpted just enough the one section of the book to make me want to read the whole thing. In the section, the Cardinal writes about the two extremes in an ever more polarized church, the liberal Catholic “wing” and the strident, ardent right or conservative wing. The Cardinal is quoted as saying that liberal Catholicism is all but dead, a thing of the past and the strident right wing  is alive and poses a great challenge for the Church as it risks the formation of independent Churches (think in the extreme of the schismatic movement begun by Archbishop Lefevbre). So I have been thinking and ruminating about both.

Liberal Catholic movements have generally not lasted or succeeded. In my lifetime start-up movements like Call to Action, Voice of the Faithful, etc. have risen to challenge the Church (not always in unhealthy ways – VOTF started in Boston during the height of the clergy misconduct scandal to seek more accountability of bishops and other Church leaders). They make their point strongly, seldom  though occasionally go for the jugular, and then seem to pass into relative ecclesial anonymity. Basically the Church stands them off by ignoring them and the people in the pew remain steadfast in their faith. Remnants exist and I think these are healthy influences, The Church’s leadership tends to be centrist in most things, tolerant in some, and slow to embrace almost any new cause for reform, which I think is the right place to stand. As long as things don’t get vicious or personal,  we listen.

The extreme right can sometimes also go for the jugular and they are less likely to give up than the “liberal” wing. Even though the Holy Father used to be sheltered from their criticism, now they are just as likely to go after him. Bishops have long been their targets and while most of us understand it “comes with the territory”, it can still sting. When they don’t seem to be getting their way, there is a tendency now to “splinter” off. Particularly  neuralgic issues tend to be matters of liturgy and worship and pro-life.

Anyway, I look forward to reading the Cardinal’s full exploration of the subject when the book arrives. It is not my intention to start a competition with Oprah on our “book of the month club” but with this I have here recommended two: WHY GO TO CHURCH by Timothy Radcliffe, OP and now THE DIFFERENCE GOD MAKES by Cardinal Francis George, OMI.

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Our priests are gathered for their three night convocation in Sable Park as I write this. How I wish I could be with them for the full three days as I have every year so far. I made a quick trip tonight to join them for dinner and present that Father Luis Cancer, OP award to

Fr. Demetrio Lorden

Father Demetrio Lorden pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe mission in Waimauma. The priests vote to honor one of their own every year and I often do not know the recipient until, like the Oscars and Emmys, I open the envelope (high drama, huh?). Father Lorden has one of the toughest challenges in the diocese as he ministers to a community of mostly Mexican brothers and sisters of various legal status. It is a financially poor parish as you would expect but it  is spiritually rich with culture, tradition and Father Lorden. He has given them a new parish center and is thinking of a larger parish hall. He runs a food and clothing dispensary and spends a lot of his time in the camps. Born and educated in Spain, Father Lorden  generously left mother and father and family and came to our diocese. How lucky we have been. Congratulations, Demetrio.

But I digress. Each of the last three years we have brought the the major presenter for our big convocation on the Eucharist to prepare the priests for the topic each year: Gathered (the Liturgy of the Word and Father J.  Glenn Murray, SJ), Nourished (the Liturgy of the Eucharist, Father Ed Foley, OFM Cap) and this year Sent.I have invited Father Timothy Radcliffe, OP to come twice from England. Father Radcliffe

Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP

is the immediate past Master General of the worldwide Dominican fathers and brothers. He has written numerous books, the latest being WHY GO TO MASS? which I highly recommend to everyone. It is both informative and enjoyable read. It is amazing to me  that a man of  Father Radcliffe’s calibre and demand would come twice to this relatively small diocese to share his wisdom and perspective. The priests in attendance loved their first day with him and said that they had gained a lot.. Sadly, some of our pastors and priests have not embraced this initiative but the old adage, “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink” applies to many things in the Church. If you are in a parish which has largely ignored this pastoral effort, I apologize. From those who embraced it, I hear nothing but praise.

Anyway, a great delight awaits you in early May when Father Radcliffe and Father J. Bryan Hehir come to the Convention Center to share what it means to be SENT.

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Pope Benedict XVI celebrated the Solemnity of Corpus Christi (The Body of Christ) last Thursday in Rome on the traditional day. Many years ago the bishops of the United States moved the observance of this special day to the second Sunday after Pentecost so more Catholics would be in attendance and they combined it with the Solemnity of the Blood of Christ since both comprise the Eucharist we celebrate. The Holy Father quote Pope Leo the Great in his homily last Thursday who in turn quoted St. Augustine of Hippo that in approaching the Eucharist, “we are to become whom we receive.” A tall order under any circumstances, it remains true today centuries after these great leaders that it is the role and task of every Catholic Christian to take Christ whom we receive into ourselves out into our world, our home, our office, our school, our society, etc. The third and final year of our three year celebration of the Eucharist which we will begin on the First Sunday of Advent is entitled “Become whom you receive” and our speakers at the third and final Eucharistic convocation will reflect that theme in their presentations. We are honored to have Father J. Bryan Hehir, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Boston and former head of the USCCB Committee on International and Domestic Justice and Peace and the English former Dominican Master General, Father Timothy Radcliffe, O.P. among us for the pursuit of this theme. I hope you listened carefully to the readings today because they clearly draw the connection between between the Old Testament Covenant and its use of animal sacrifice with the New Testament Covenant and its unbloody sacrifice of the Mass through the horrific sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

Finally, today we celebrated the Golden Anniversary of Corpus Christi parish in Temple Terrace (Hillsborough County). Fifty years if a comparatively long time for parishes in this diocese and Corpus Christi has served its community well over the years. Among its ten former pastors are Fathers Jerome Carosella and  Nicholas McLaughlin of the Venice diocese, Father Paul Goudreau, Father Alan Weber, Father Brendan Lawlor (who served twice as pastor)  and for the last nine years, Father Joseph Waters who this summer will transfer to become Rector of the Cathedral of St. Jude. Many associate pastors have served these people well over the years. The parish community will begin its six decade with Father Robert Cadrecha as their pastor and everyone I spoke to looks forward to his arrival. It is a great day for the Church in the United States as we pause to reflect on the gift of the Eucharist and also in our parish of Corpus Christi. At the end of the ceremony Father Waters presented me with an award which they have been giving throughout the year to members of the parish who have been especially generous in serving the parish. My award was given not only to myself  but to all the bishops for the past fifty years starting with Archbishop Hurley of St. Augustine who started Corpus Christi parish, Bishop McLaughlin, Bishop Larkin and (Arch)Bishop Favalora. The Mass today was a very fitting conclusion to a year of celebration. Ad multos annos!

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Part two of our three diocesan convocations on the Eucharist took place and was completed yesterday. The venue was the same as last year, the Tampa Bay Convention Center and the participants were about the same or slightly more than last year, about 3000. It has long been my hope that every teacher in all of our Catholic elementary and high schools, every parish director of religious education and formation, and as many others as are involved in the catechetical ministry of the Church with children and adults would attend. Once again, the spirit in the place was palpable and the gratitude for the opportunity to deepen our awareness and understanding of the Eucharist was oft expressed, in words, applause, and smiles. Yesterday was a day for any bishop to be proud, of his hard working and zealous core planning committee for putting the day together, of all the diocesan employees who worked as volunteer staff in making people welcome and assisting in their needs, and of all the generous presenters who in some cases traveled great distances to share their knowledge of the Eucharist with us.

To explore the depth of the mystery of the Eucharistic Prayer, I invited Franciscan Father Edward Foley, a professor at the Chicago Theological Union to be the major presenter. He had earlier spent three days with the priests of the diocese going over what he would be presenting yesterday. Focusing on the Eucharistic Prayer as the heart of the celebration, Father Foley emphasized that more than just bread and wine are transformed but so should the hearts and souls of the participants be transformed. Using word, visual images and music, he invited the willing participants to delve far more deeply into the richness and meaning of the Eucharistic Prayer and the Communion Rite than most of us, myself included. have ever gone. So many people said after each of his two sessions, “you know I never saw that, I never thought of that but it makes sense.” I often wonder how many of our people truly understand what they are present for or how many are present simply because of a sense of sin and obligation. Understand the depth and richness of the Eucharist and one should never want to miss the opportunity and obligation takes a distant second place to desire. “How cool is that?” our young people might say.

The enemy of richer celebrations of the Eucharist is not the devil. It is the clock, the parking lot, the early-bird Saturday night dinners, the inflated notion of service, the Mass that takes less than one hour and the homily that is measured more easily in seconds than minutes, the music that has nothing to do with readings or action, the mass schedule that allows for a few hale and hearty to have their own Mass free of singing, participation, communion-building with one another, the back doors and side doors mandated by fire marshals but used by those who have a limited time for post-communion meditation and use the exits as escape hatches for early dismissal, the priest who thinks he knows better than the Church what the people “want” for Mass. The 3000 people present representing every parish in this diocese at the Tampa Bay Convention Center left wanting more – of me, of my brother priests and of each other. Deeper, fuller, richer, more active participation in the Mass is our goal and we took another baby step in that direction yesterday.

Eucharist unites us. It was a proud moment for any bishop yesterday and forget me, it was a great moment for this local Church which is finally wrestling with a better understanding of and greater celebration of the Eucharist which Christ left to His Church. Many of us can not wait until next year when our final convocation focusing on the concluding words of the Eucharistic celebration, “The Mass is ended, Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and one another” -SENT- becomes our final focus with Father Timothy Radcliffe, OP, former Master General of the worldwide Dominican order coming to us from London to open our hearts and minds once again.

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