Archbishop Wenski's Coat of Arms

Word on the street is that Archbishop-Designate Thomas Wenski packed up his car on Saturday and headed down south to Miami. Tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m., the Most Reverend Thomas G. Wenski will be installed as the fourth Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Miami. Because of the limitations in seating capacity at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Miami, attendance at the Installation Mass is by ticket-only. For those of us who are unable to be in attendance, the Mass of Installation will be aired live on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) and CatholicTV.  Coverage begins on both channels at 2:00 p.m. For those of you who will be away from a television at that time, there are several other ways to view or listen to the Mass.

Catholica Omnia will have full coverage tomorrow. Coverage will be included on my Twitter and Facebook pages: for those of you on Twitter, please follow @thomaspringle; for those of you on Facebook, “like” Catholica Omnia.

Simply put, tomorrow is going to be awesome for the people of the Province of Miami. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: At the Mass of Installation of Archbishop Wenski, Sean Cardinal O’Malley and some 40+ other bishops. There will be a delegation from the Catholic hierarchy of Cuba and most of the bishops from Haiti. There is expected to be over 400 priests in attendance for the Mass, including most, if not all, of the priests from the Archdiocese of Miami and a delegation from the Diocese of Orlando.

PHOTO SOURCE: Archdiocese of Miami

Archbishop Wenski processes out of the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe following the Farewell Mass

Earlier this evening, the people of the Diocese of Orlando bid farewell to their chief shepherd, Archbishop-Designate Thomas G. Wenski. As you may recall, Pope Benedict XVI appointed the Most Rev. Thomas Wenski as the fourth Archbishop of Miami on April 20, 2010. The Mass of Farewell was celebrated at the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe. Archbishop Wenski told those in attendance that the Mass was a “Last Supper” of sorts.

During the homily, the Archbishop-Designate spoke about the most memorable events of the Diocese in the seven years of his episcopacy. Included in that list were the first-ever diocesan synod (“Starting Afresh From Christ”), the celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Diocese and the beginning of the first diocesan capital campaign (“Alive in Christ”). Remarking on these achievements for the Diocese, Wenski stated: “If this local church has grown stronger in its faith, more confident in its hope and more ardent in its charity — and I believe it has — it has done so only because we have done it together, in a collegial way and in a collaborative way.”

In the Chapel of St. Raphael at St. John Vianney College Seminary, there is mural on the wall directly behind the sanctuary that illustrates the missionary activity of the Catholic Church. The mural quotes Sacred Scripture by stating: “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” In the midst of the contemporary piece of art completed by Gabriel Loire, those who enter the chapel are reminded of their baptismal call of bringing the salvific message of Jesus Christ to the entire world.

Over the last several months of seminary formation, the mural in the seminary’s chapel has been speaking to me more and more each day. As many of you have read in my blog posts over the last couple of years, the discernment of the priesthood of Jesus Christ is not easy.

The Church asks a lot of someone who is in the discernment process of becoming a priest. We are asked to take a look at the deepest recesses of our hearts and examine who we are at our inner most cores. That journey can be very painful at times because all of us begin to open wounds and hurts that we have experienced throughout our lives. When we recall those events, we are asked to bring them to spiritual direction to find healing. Over the past couple of years, as I have taken this inward journey, I have begun to discover who I am and what the Lord is asking me to do with my life.

Well everyone, the last couple of days have been, to say the least, quite interesting for this seminarian who tries to keep all of you informed on the important news affecting the Catholic Church in the United States. My only hope for this site is that it can reach someone and develop in them a deep love for the Church, a love that, for me, grows more intensely every day.

Yesterday, with my Bishop appointed as the Archbishop of Miami, I have not even truly begun to think about the implications this has for my own Diocese of Orlando. We will be vacant beginning June 1, 2010 and we could be vacant for some time. With the diocese in the midst of a $150 million capital campaign project to fund the outcome of the first ever diocesan synod that was called by Bishop Wenski back in 2004-2005, my prayer is that the Holy Father will send us a new ordinary as soon as possible.

I have also not even begun to think of the implications the appointment of the Most Rev. Thomas G. Wenski as the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Miami has for the Province of Miami (Catholic Church of Florida). Archbishop-elect will have a good fifteen to sixteen years at the helm here in Florida. With his qualifications and his enduring work for the poor and less-fortunate, Wenski has now been given a platform to bring a message to the whole of the United States. Let me tell you, that message needs to be heard now more than ever.

Please keep Archbishop-Designate Wenski, Archbishop Favalora, the future Bishop of Orlando (whoever that may be), the people of the Archdiocese of Miami, and the people of the Diocese of Orlando (clergy, consecrated religious, and laity) in your prayers over the next few weeks.

Time for a little breather. Final exams are next week and I haven’t started studying for them yet and, well, academics reign supreme over the next few days. Do not expect to see a post until the beginning of May, folks.

Thank you for reading! Peace to all of you!

PHOTO: cartoonworks.net