As you can see, one thing I did not have time to do was shave! I do not think being unshaven becomes me in a picture. What's more, I'm sure you might be able to figure out that I had no idea that Scott Maentz was snapping my picture (he also got Deacon Pat Murphy-Racey, who was there unvested taking pictures of his own, and these photographs are Scott's). Nevertheless, I don't mind being photographed on such an occasion, because as far as I am concerned, the whole world can know I was at Sacred Heart Cathedral Tuesday night. Praising the Lord is certainly a prerequisite for Aspirancy to the deaconate, and I find I am at my happiest and most comfortable in the House of the Lord-there really isn't anywhere else in the world I would rather be.
That nice lady next to me had come all the way from Holy Spirit in Soddy Daisy to take pictures. I was pointing out to her the other photographers who I knew were there.
While the Mass was going on, there were several times when I nearly burst into tears, although not from sadness, but joy. The Chrism Mass is a wonderful expression of the unity of the Church, because every able priest in the diocese was there and a great many of the deacons were there. There were religious there, too-Dominican Sisters and Religious Sisters of Mercy. The music was exceptionally fine, and not only did all of the priests concelebrate with Bishop Stika, but it was the first time that I had ever had occasion to see Bishop Stika and his mentor Justin Cardinal Rigali concelebrate a Mass together (I'm not counting Bishop Stika's episcopal ordination, Nicole and I were at that event). Since coming to East Tennessee, Cardinal Rigali seems to have fit right into the pastoral life of the diocese. He seems so at home here that you'd never know that he was new, you'd think he was our retired bishop, not Philadelphia's. With due respect to Archbishop Chaput, who is also a great shepherd, I think we got the better part of the deal when Cardinal Rigali retired and Chaput was appointed from Denver to replace him, since Cardinal Rigali fulfilled an apparently long-held promise that he would go wherever his friend Monsignor Stika was when he retired. Philadelphia got Chaput, and the State of Tennessee got the first Prince of the Church in its history. It is a silly thing, but if I could ask one favor of His Eminence, it might be to bless my personal Roman Missal.
The reason I nearly wept at the Mass was that I found myself in awe and gratitude at what the Holy Spirit is doing in this diocese. I'm sure that people in every diocese in the world feel blessed, but we have reason to thank God every day. Other places have severe shortages of priests and are forced to close parishes that cannot sustain themselves, but we have enough priests for every parish, and many parishes have more than one priest. We currently have 19 men in priestly formation. I have personally been blessed by the Holy Spirit to be in deaconal formation with some of the finest men I have ever had the pleasure to know. Bishop Stika announced that soon, an order of cloistered Sisters will be coming here. I looked at all of our priests and deacons and religious and the people of God who literally filled our humble but beautiful cathedral and said to the Lord in thanksgiving "thank you Jesus-what a wonderful thing is your Church." I was happy to see all of our priests, but on a personal level I was happy to see Monsignor Xavier Mankel, OP, who was quick to ask me if I was behaving myself in my old age!
The Mass of Chrism, where the bishop blesses the sacred oils (Chrism, the Oil of the Infirm, and the Oil of Catechumens) used to anoint people sacramentally throughout the year is tied in an intimate way to tonight's Mass of the Lord's Supper, because the Eucharist, the sacred priesthood, and the apostolic ministry of the episcopacy all had their beginnings on that first Holy Thursday. Bishop Stika said in his homily that more than anything else, the Eucharist is what draws new people into the Church. What he said sounded a lot like the lesson on the Eucharist I gave for our parish's RCIA class when I explained to them that we are a people of the Eucharist, and that without the Eucharist, there is no Church, no conclave, no Bishop Stika, no Pope Benedict, no new Pope (Francis had not been elected yet), no RCIA, and no reason for them to be there. Since I know that at least one of our RCIA candidates was at the Mass, I was pleased that the bishop said what he did about the Eucharist-thank you Holy Spirit.
Holy Thursday is, more than anything, all about the Body of Christ. It is about his Body and Blood that he gave us for the first time that Thursday night in an Upper Room, and the sacrifice of his Body for the sake of our salvation, and the reality that he gives us his Body that we may become the Body of Christ which we receive. So tonight at Mass, take some time to adore Our Lord's Body. It is also about service, as we learn to humble ourselves and wash feet as Jesus washed his disciples' feet.
As we ready ourselves to commemorate Our Lord's last night before his crucifuxion, it might be good to meditate on one of my favorite Eucharistic hymns, Pange lingua gloriosi. If you don't know what the words mean, I have put a rough translation below the video.
Sing, my tongue, the Savior's glory,
of His flesh the mystery sing;
of the Blood, all price exceeding,
shed by our immortal King,
destined, for the world's redemption,
from a noble womb to spring.
Of a pure and spotless Virgin
born for us on earth below,
He, as Man, with man conversing,
stayed, the seeds of truth to sow;
then He closed in solemn order
wondrously His life of woe.
On the night of that Last Supper,
seated with His chosen band,
He the Pascal victim eating,
first fulfills the Law's command;
then as Food to His Apostles
gives Himself with His own hand.
Word-made-Flesh, the bread of nature
by His word to Flesh He turns;
wine into His Blood He changes;
what though sense no change discerns?
Only be the heart in earnest,
faith her lesson quickly learns.
Down in adoration falling,
This great Sacrament we hail,
Over ancient forms of worship
Newer rites of grace prevail;
Faith will tell us Christ is present,
When our human senses fail.
To the everlasting Father,
And the Son who made us free
And the Spirit, God proceeding
From them Each eternally,
Be salvation, honor, blessing,
Might and endless majesty.
Amen.
"...we are a people of the Eucharist" Amen!
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