Sunday, April 15, 2007

Bicentennial Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral

Today at 2:00 PM the Archdiocese began its bicentennial year with a special Mass. At least 2 Lithuanians were in attendance. I struck up a conversation with a chorister, mentioning that I was usually singing "Marija, Marija" across the street from the cathedral. He mentioned that he was half Lithuanian, so between the two of us, we added up to one. The other known Lithuanian was Bishop Baltakis, who sat among the other bishops on the altar and was acknowledged by Cardinal Egan before the final blessing.

Intentions were offered in various languages representing the different ethnic groups of New York. None were offered in Lithuanian.

A special edition of Catholic New York was available to those who attended this liturgy. It was almost like a souvenir journal, with many ads of congratulation. It featured a thoughtful history by Msgr. Thomas J. Shelley and a time line featuring events and people important to the archdiocese.

In this look back at 200 years of history, there was no mention of the founding nor the contributions of any of the recently closed parishes. The closings and mergers, certainly unprecedented in their magnitude, did not merit inclusion in the timeline.

"In the Holiness of Truth" seems to be a slogan or motto associated with the bicentennial. In my mind, it is followed by a fine print "but not the whole truth."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Adamkus will meet with the Pope and will address the need to reopen Our Lady of Vilnius Church. Lithuania's Bishops followed Adamkus' letter to the Cardinal with their meek letter. However, Egan posted that Lithuania's Bishops Conference's representative Putrimas agreed with the Cardinal. Sic transit gloria mundi.