Neighbors: Past, Present

Earlier this month, I was privileged to be able to take part in the Installation Mass for Archbishop Robert J. Carlson as the new archbishop of St. Louis. The experience of this installation brought back to me memories of other installations of archbishops in St. Louis. As Archbishop Carlson was incensing the gifts at the altar during the Mass, I was drawn back to the moment I was master of ceremonies for Archbishop John L. May as he performed the same solemn ritual at that same altar for his installation in March of 1980.

Seeing Cardinal Justin F. Rigali of Philadelphia (formerly of St. Louis) presiding over the actual installation of Archbishop Carlson brought back to me the image of Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, who had come over from Rome to preside over Cardinal Rigali’s installation in St. Louis in 1994. The night before Archbishop Carlson’s installation, there was a meal at the hotel for the visiting bishops and members of Archbishop Carlson’s family. It took place in the same room we had gathered for Archbishop Raymond L. Burke’s installation in January of 2004, as an ice storm was raging across Missouri.

I look forward to an opportunity for Archbishop Carlson to visit us here in the Diocese of Jefferson City as soon as possible. Let me share with you this excerpt from Archbishop Carlson’s homily at the Vesper Service in the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica on the night before his installation:

“The Church must also be willing to engage the culture. This gets us in trouble when our teaching conflicts with the ‘wisdom of the day,’ but it is also our duty as a moral voice in the community.

“Think about the values of the contemporary culture, and compare them with the values of the Gospel. Perhaps there was a time when the culture supported the values of the Gospel, or at least appeared to do so. But we now live in a culture that is not particularly friendly and is sometimes actively hostile to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“The Gospel invites us to choose life; the culture tells us that death is an equally legitimate choice. The Gospel tells us that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life; the culture tells us that there are many equally valid ways, truth, and lifestyles. Jesus Himself tells us that the path to heaven is narrow while the path to hell is broad (Matthew 7:13-14); the culture tells us that the path to heaven is broad while the path to hell is narrow.

“Not everything in our culture is hostile to the values of the Gospel. But, at the same time, the list of contradictions could be multiplied. Let’s go right to the bottom line: If we can’t point to a number of issues on which the values we live by differ from the values of our culture, then we have to wonder about the depth of our commitment to the teachings of Christ.

“I believe that our witness to faith, in word and deed, can win the day. And it is why I pray so often, ‘May the Holy Spirit get the last word.’”

Heaven’s gain

On June 18, Father Phil Moriarty, pastor of St. Mary of the Angels parish in Wien, completed his earthly life, and two days later, on June 20, Father Henry Reichert, pastor of St. Andrew parish in Tipton and Annunciation parish in California, succumbed to the deadly combination of a cranial bleed and a stroke. Please remember the members of their personal families and their parish families in your prayers. These two good priests have completed their earthly journey in the closing days of the Year of St. Paul and at the beginning of the Year for Priests.

This past January, during a special Mass on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Fr. Moriarty commented on the following passage from St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, in which St. Paul observes:

“I will not boast except about my own weaknesses. Therefore, that I not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan to beat me, to keep me from becoming too elated. Three times I begged the Lord that this thorn may leave me, but He said, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ I will gladly boast of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell within me.”

Here is what Fr. Phil had to say: “This particular passage from Second Corinthians has had a profound influence on my whole life. From the time I was 3 years old, through my teen-age years, I had to live with physical disability. I had to live with weakness. No one really thought that a disabled person could study for the Priesthood or become a priest. I had to have a lot of support from other people who looked past the exterior and saw the man inside and encouraged me to minister, to study for the Priesthood and to serve the Church.

“Right now, I am in my 19th year of living in the community of Wien. And this has been my salvation. When I am weak, it is then that I am strong, for weakness powers me to perfection. May God bless you, Paul, who showed us that weakness is the inside of the cover of strength.