I suspect that people who normally attend the 1 p.m. Mass at our parish and had no clue what was going on were somewhat surprised when they saw the bishop walk out, along with our pastor, 5 additional priests and about 20 seminarians. Then they were probably groaning, thinking, “Well this isn’t going to be any quickie 45 minute Mass!”
As the bishop, priests & seminarians processed in, we were front & center. (Not my usual seat in Church, by the way.) As he passed me, the bishop reached out to touch me on the arm. My first thought was, “Well I’m glad someone realizes how hard this is for me!”
The Mass was wonderful. What made it even more so was that this bishop knows Stephen because he lived with him for the 2 years Steve was at the local seminary before they sent him to D.C. When we went to the open house at the seminary, before he entered, the bishop was not yet a bishop and was the rector of the seminary. He met with the boys who would be entering and the parents of the boys and gave a little talk. Amazingly, I can remember almost word for word one statement he said. “They are all brothers here in the house and I am their Papa!”
Because he knew Stephen, us, Theresa, & had met my father his homily wasn’t some impersonal, generic one. I wish we had someone in there with a video camera.
Basically, it was a regular Mass except with a lot more music & singing because the entire choir was there. And, of course the Rite of Candidacy. This took place after the homily.
We made Mass programs and included in it, what Candidacy is and the Rite of Candidacy. I didn’t put the entire program online but if anyone was curious about what this whole thing was all about, you can see those pages here.
Our pastor had a little reception set up for after Mass. There was even champagne. What surprised me is no one from the parish went. Our pastor announced it but it seems everyone ran out right after Mass was over after greeting Steve. Okay, not “no one” but only a handful.
I’ll be back with party details tomorrow in Part II.
Thanks for this — all new to me.
I like Lanny’s idea — photos on the blog!
[quote comment="2901"]Thanks for this — all new to me.[/quote]
To be honest, it was all new to me, too. It seems I don’t/didn’t know all that much about the whole process of being a priest. I am learning, though.
FINALLY! I’ve been like crazy trying to get on your blog, but I was having trouble getting it to load. I’ve been awaiting this set of posts for so long!
Congratulations! You must be so incredibly proud.
If he ever goes to EWTN and gets to meet Mother Angelica, come with him! I’d love to meet y’all!
I think he’s going to be such an amazing priest. I’m so excited for y’all!