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.”

Archbishop-Designate Wenski then went on to ask the people of the Diocese of Orlando for forgiveness for anything he did during his tenure that offended anyone and for anything that he failed to do during his time as Bishop of Orlando. He stated: “I am still a work in progress.”

At the closing of his homily, the Most Rev. Thomas G. Wenski asked the people of the Diocese for continued prayers as he undertakes his new responsibilities in the Archdiocese of Miami. He has consistently said that Miami has its own problems. This fact has  been witnessed over the last several years with scandals involving priests and the closing of parishes because of financial instability.

Before the final blessing, Sr. Elizabeth Worley, Diocesan Chancellor for Administration, offered some words of thanks to the Archbishop-Designate and presented him with his Orlando coat of arms. The coat of arms would have been attached to the new cathedra in the newly renovated Cathedral of St. James, which will be dedicated by Archbishop Wenski on November 20, 2010. After receiving his coat of arms, Archbishop Wenski thanked the people for their support. He also explained that the Diocese may be vacant for some three to six months. He remarked that any longer than six months may give the Diocese of Orlando a false sense that they do not need a Bishop.

Following these final remarks, Bishop Norbert Dorsey gave Archbishop-Designate Wenski a blessing. The date was a special day for Bishop Dorsey; on May 25, 1990, Bishop Dorsey was installed as the third Bishop of the Diocese of Orlando.

At the end of the Mass, as “Bishop Wenski” processed out of the Basilica Shrine, the people in attendance offered applause to their Shepherd, wishing him congratulations and heartfelt gratitude.

PHOTO SOURCE: Orlando Sentinel

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.

Since returning to the seminary in late-August, I continued to take this inward journey to try to discover where the Lord is leading me in my life. As I began the year, something was amiss with me and I was not quite sure what that something entailed. The slightest little thing began to upset me and I had to take a look at why that was happening. I began to wake up every morning dreading the day, not wanting to do anything. However, I simply knew I had to get up and get going. A phrase my Uncle David used to say came to mind: “You gots to do what ya gots to do.” However, because I was experiencing this immense unhappiness, I did make the decision to take it to spiritual direction.

During my direction sessions, as my spiritual director and I began to discuss why I was miserable, I began to really wonder if priesthood was where the Lord was calling me. Shortly after all these things began emerging, my prayer changed into, “Lord, what do you wish me to do with my life?” Over the next few months, I began to see that the Lord was possibly changing my path.

Throughout my times in prayer, the desire for a family began to re-emerge. As many of my closest friends know, the reason I was hesitant to enter the seminary was because I so profoundly desired to have a family of my own. I took this to spiritual direction as well. As the conversation continued to deepen, I also recalled my first passion in life—law enforcement.

My spiritual director initially told me that, at times in our lives as we seek to follow the Lord more closely, our previous desires begin to re-emerge and make us question whether we want to continue in the path on which we are currently embarking. However, this is usually just a trick that the evil spirit plays on us to make us swerve from our true path in life. Nonetheless, he asked me to continue praying about what the Lord was asking me to do.

At that point, I began praying to the Blessed Mother, asking for her assistance in helping me to know her Son more intimately and understand what He was asking me to do with my life. As Christmas Break began, my prayer changed yet again: “Blessed Mother, help me to know your son; allow me to grow in a relationship with him; teach me how to pray; grant me understanding in knowing what God is asking me to do with my life. Blessed Mother, be my star; guide me along the rough waters of life and illuminate my path.”

Throughout the Christmas recess, I spent some time focusing on the things I had experienced throughout the first semester of this academic year. As the dust began to settle more and more, I began to realize that the Lord was calling me to leave the seminary and pursue some other kind of service. Initially, I was unsure as to what that meant.

During the end of the first week on break, I served a funeral for an Orange County Deputy Sheriff who had recently died of cancer. Because the Cathedral of St. James was undergoing renovations, the funeral was moved to St. Charles. Throughout the days before the funeral, I was remembering how I wanted to be a police officer before entering seminary and I began wondering if this was what the Lord was calling me to do. During the funeral, I experienced the brotherhood of the law enforcement community in a very powerful way, which allowed me to really see that maybe this was the path the Lord was calling me to take in my life.

On New Years Eve, I was sitting in front of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Charles and I prayed the prayer that I had been praying for the last several months: “Lord, what do you wish me to do with my life? Am I called to be a priest or am I called to serve your people in some other capacity?” Then it hit me and I knew. I knew the Lord was asking me to leave the seminary, take what I had learned, and go out to serve the people. I was immediately reminded of the scripture passage on the mural in the Chapel of St. Raphael: “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creatures.”

When I got back to seminary a few days later, I took my experiences to my spiritual director who told me to begin listening to the voice of the church to see if the Lord speaks through them as well. Throughout the following weeks, I did exactly that; I listened to the priests’ homilies more intently, I paid particular attention to what my professors were saying, and I began talking to a couple of my brother seminarians. When the seminary community began our January Day of Recollection, I took all of these experiences to the silent retreat and really focused on them. I again asked the Blessed Mother to be my star, illuminating my discernment.

The next meeting with my spiritual director was the best spiritual direction session I had ever encountered. At that point, my spiritual director also began to see that the Lord was calling me to something else. Since January, my spiritual director and I have been discussing what was next in my life and he helped me arrive at a decision, which is to leave the seminary at this time to pursue serving God’s people as a police officer. However, there are many steps that need to be taken before I explore this next part of my journey.

I have set goals for the next couple of years that I must complete before even thinking about entering the police academy. My first and most important goal is obtaining a degree in Public Administration from the University of Central Florida. The next is getting in shape, which I am going to have to work on over the next several months. I also would like to begin working at the Sheriff’s Office so that I can learn the ropes of the organization and begin to better understand the law enforcement community.

As I begin the process of discernment outside the seminary, I know that the Lord is going to be walking with me more than ever. I will take with me the love that I have experienced from the Lord through the many people who have been instrumental in my life. I will take with me the knowledge and understanding that things happen in the Lord’s time, not mine. And, most of all, I take with me the faith to put all my trust and hope in the Lord, knowing that He will lead me where He pleases.

I thank all of you: the members of my family; Archbishop-Designate Wenski, Fr. Miguel, Fr. Michael, Fr. Joseph, Fr. Tom, Fr. Augustine and all of the priests who have been instrumental in my discernment; my brother seminarians who have walked this journey with me; my closest friends who have supported me over the years; and all of those who have offered financial assistance and prayers for your unceasing support over the last couple of years as I discerned the priesthood of Jesus Christ. As I begin this next portion of my journey, I also begin discerning the Permanent Diaconate. Seminary has illustrated to me that I am being called to serve the Church in a special way, by offering myself for the benefit of others. I ask that you all please continue to keep me in your prayers. Please be assured of my prayers for you.

Pax.

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