"Here we go Lord, you're in charge" PP. Leo

Wow! The last Friday before we celebrate our Lord's Nativity. Since I started the year writing about discernment and have spent the past eleven months discerning, I figured I would spill some, but not all, of the beans.

As both of my readers know, I have been discerning. What about? I have been discerning about whether to retire from my longtime career to pursue a new opportunity.

Last week, I (finally!) I decided to retire this coming March and do something different. What that something is I will not divulge right now. I will say that it is coming back to work for the Church fulltime. I worked fulltime for the Church when I was newly married some thirty years ago both at the diocesan and parish levels. A year into what became my career, I nearly left to come back to work for the Church.

It was during the latter part of those 2+ years working for the Church that I was invited to discern a call to the diaconate. But I did not start diaconal formation until after I had embarked on the career from which I am now retiring.

There was a lot to consider in making this decision. I won't bore you with the details. I very much appreciate both the patience I was granted and the persistence I was pursued while trying to figure this out. It's a rare thing to have that long. I was very much encouraged by a few friends (also deacons) who were in my position and made the choice I made.

Even when you know how to discern, there is still a decision to be made. In other words, you can get stuck in discernment mode. Saint Ignatius' way of figuring out if you discerned well is that the decision brings you peace.

After requesting retirement, I waited a day until the formal process was under way. Once it was, I felt at peace. I had an intial indication up front that this is the path down which the Lord is calling me.

Nonethless, there were still some things to be figured out. I also couldn't make a good decision by putting too much pressure on myself. I needed time and space. But still, eleven months in this case was not time spent dawdling. There comes a time to decide. As Rush famously sang: "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."

I was patient with the Lord and with myself. Others were patient with me. I am grateful for that and for this new opportunity. I will share the specifics in due course.

"And now for something completely different..."

I followed up reading British historian Laurence Rees' recently published The Nazi Mind: 12 Warnings from History by reading one of his earlier works: Auschwitz: A New History. I have been supplementing this reading by watching some documentaries on this period. The documentaries I am watching are 30 minutes or less. These are filling in some gaps in my knowledge and looking at things a in a more granular way. To give an example, last night I watched French Priest Turned Nazi Traitor with 2 Lovers Executed: Alesch.

And so, a few days ago I listened to Amy Grant sing Michael W. Smith's song about the Holocaust: "Lead Me On," which is our Friday traditio. Smith wrote the song for Grant who recorded if for her 1988 album of the same name.

Ordination Anniversary

Today was the first time this year that I was tempted to deviate from my plan. As it turns out, my saving grace in this regard, is sacramental grace. Specifically, the sacramental grace of ordination. Today, the Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, marks the twenty-first anniversary of my ordination as deacon.

Diocese of Salt Lake City, Deacon Class of 2004

Along with 23 other men, then-Bishop George H. Niederauer of Salt Lake City (later archbishop of San Francisco, which was then my diocese's Metropolitan See until 2023), by the laying on of hands, conferred on me the sacrament of orders by ordaining me a deacon. Along with being married, the birth of my children, and my own baptism (/confirmation/communion- 14 April 1990), this was a major event in my life. From that day forward, I have striven to be a man of service, albeit a very imperfect one. Nothing brings my flaws to the fore like pastoral ministry.

For the first eleven-and-a-half years of my diaconate, I served at The Cathedral of the Madeleine. For the past 9.5 years, I have served at Saint Olaf parish, located in the town where I live. Serving as a deacon is both my privilege and my pleasure.

Over the ensuing twenty-one years, nine members of my class have died. To the surviving members: Ad multos anos! I'm currently in a season of discernment. I don't mind saying that I find it rather uncomfortable but feel like I should find it exciting. In your kindness, say a prayer for me.

Our traditio is Tom Jones singing "Burning Hell" off his 2010 album Praise and Blame:

"Deacon Jones please pray for me!"

Viva the Archdiocese of Las Vegas- Updated

As I hinted in Sunday's post, there is some fairly big Church news that breaking today. What is this news? The creation of a new ecclesiastical province: the Archdiocese of Las Vegas.

All of the territory for this new metropolitan province comes from the Archdiocese of San Francisco. San Francisco is an enormous archdiocese. Until today it counted twelve dioceses as suffragan dioceses. Among those were the dioceses of Las Vegas, Reno, and Salt Lake City. Now, these three dioceses together comprise the Archdiocese of Las Vegas.

Going back to the late nineteenth century, Utah and most of Nevada were part of the same Vicariate Apostolic. This vast area was served by Lawrence Scanlan. Scanlan went on to become the first bishop of Salt Lake City. He was ordained a bishop on 29 June 1887 in San Francisco. As a bishop, he continued to have charge of this vast territory until his death on 10 May 1915 in Salt Lake City.

Considering the establishment of the Archdiocese of Las Vegas and the growth of the Catholic Church throughout the huge territory where he so faithfully ministered, it is interesting to remember that at the time of his death, Bishop Scanlan was not terribly optimistic about the future of the Roman Catholic Church in this part of the United States. It seems to me that Bishop Scanlan's skepticism about the Church's prospects here supports one of my main theological theses: hope only begins where optimism ends.

On 27 January 1891, Pope Leo XIII erected the Diocese of Salt Lake City. At that time, the diocese included most of Nevada. It was not until 27 March 1931 that Pope Pius XI created the Diocese of Reno. This diocese consisted of territory taken from the Dioceses of Sacramento and Salt Lake City. From its inception until 21 March 1995, the Diocese of Reno covered the entire state of Nevada. Pope John Paul II, splitting Nevada in two, made the Diocese of Las Vegas, all of its territory coming from the Diocese of Reno.

Cathedral of the Guardian Angels, Las Vegas, Nevada

If I am not mistaken, when the Archdiocese of Denver was erected in 1941, there was a proposal to move the Diocese of Salt Lake City into that metropolitan province, but this did not happen. Originally, Utah was to be aligned with Colorado. Despite the Holy See's creation in 1871 of the Vicariate Apostolic of Colorado and Utah, this alignment never really occurred.

The Vicariate of Colorado and Utah lasted until 1887 when Utah was designated a Vicariate Apostolic in its own right under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of San Francisco. As already mentioned, this vicariate and, from 1891 to 1931, this diocese, included most of Nevada. So, until today, the Diocese of Salt Lake City remained the eastern outpost of the vast metropolitan province of San Francisco.

Two bishops of Salt Lake City moved on to serve as archbishop of San Franciso: John Mitty and George Niederauer. I have to note that I was ordained a deacon in 2004 by then-Bishop Niederauer. Another bishop of Salt Lake City, William Weigand, went on to serve as bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento. Sacramento was the other diocese from which territory was taken in 1931 to establish the Diocese of Reno.

One more historical note I want to bring up is that the first native Utahn to be ordained a priest, Robert Dwyer, went on to serve as the second bishop of the Diocese of Reno. From there, he was named archbishop of Portland, Oregon. Dwyer, to date, remains one of only two priests of the Diocese of Salt Lake City to be consecrated bishop. The other is Duane Hunt, an adult convert to the faith, who served as the fifth bishop of Salt Lake City.

Interestingly, the metropolitan see of the new archdiocese is the youngest of the dioceses that comprise the province. Today's establishment of the Archdiocese of Las Vegas has the effect of elevating George Leo Thomas to the rank of archbishop. Archbishop Thomas, the third bishop of Las Vegas, has served there since 2018. Originally from Seattle, where he was an auxiliary bishop, he served as bishop of the Diocese of Helena, Montana before being sent by Pope Francis to Las Vegas. His suffragan bishops are Oscar Solis of Salt Lake City (my bishop and much-beloved friend) and Daniel Mueggenborg of Reno. Archbishop Thomas also has an auxiliary bishop: Gregory Gordon.

Service as a healing gift: getting outside myself

As it turns out, I can't quite wait until 2 June to resume blogging. In light of my recent struggles, which I noted in my previous post, I have to say that getting outside of myself is quite helpful. On Thursday morning, as I was working from home, my phone rang. To my shame, I thought it was my wife calling me for the third time in rapid succession. Resisting the temptation, to just pick up my phone, swipe, and say something like the gentle but slightly annoyed spousal, "What now?," I looked and saw that it was a call from Bishop Solis, my bishop.

Because I serve as the Director of the Office of the Diaconate, I have responsibility for both permanent deacons and those in formation to be deacons. Hence, I thought my bishop was probably calling me about a clergy personnel matter. So, managing a polite, "Hello, bishop," he asked me if I was available to accompany him on a trip to Southern Utah. He informed me that if I was available, we would need to leave in two hours. I was able to quickly make some arrangements at home and work and go with him.

On Thursday we traveled from Salt Lake City to St. George, Utah. Arriving in the late afternoon, we stayed in the parish rectory with Frs. Dave Bittemann and Tristan Dillon. We spent a pleasant evening together, going to dinner and enjoying some light conversation. After dinner, I stayed up very late talking with Fr Bittemann, a wonderful priest, with whom I served at the Cathedral years ago right after he was ordained.

The next day, I had most of the day to myself. It was very nice. After dropping the bishop at the golf course, where he'd been invited by some parishioners of St. George Parish to play, I went on a nice hike on a lovely desert trail. It was the kind of alone time that is truly healing, not more unhealthy self-isolation. This was a time when my heart was more attuned to gratitude than resentment. I then joined the bishop, Fr Dillon, and the bishop's golfing partners for lunch.

After a post-lunch rest, we celebrated Confirmation for 85 young people. The Mass was a beautiful, bi-lingual celebration. The rather large church was full. The Confirmation Mass was followed by a very nice catered dinner. During my time at the dinner, I was able to speak with the deacons assigned to St. George and one of our aspirants to the diaconate who will be made a Candidate for the Sacrament of Orders by Bishop Solis this coming Saturday. I also met and spoke with several wonderful parishioners.

Arising early on Saturday morning, I drove the bishop to the small farming community of Milford, Utah. There, in St. Bridget's Church, we celebrated Confirmation for around 25 young people from the pastoral area. This large area consists of Milford, Delta, Fillmore, and Beaver. This local church is capably served by Fr. Marco Lopez, who is from El Salvador. He is a wonderful priest who serves his people very well. He is a very kind, gentle, and energetic pastor.

La misa celebrada en español. Tuve un buen opportunidad para practicar español con la gente amable de la parroquia. Once again, the Church was packed. After a wonderful lunch at the home of a very nice family, the bishop and I headed back south to Christ the King Parish in Cedar City. There we celebrated Confirmation, appropriately enough on the Vigil of Pentecost, for another roughly 30 young people.

Following the reception in Cedar City, I drove the bishop 250 miles back to Salt Lake City. I arrived home myself at about 12:45 AM. It was a lot of fun jamming to the music of Carlos Santana driving late at night with my bishop!

Why do I post all this? Well, it ties back to my starting point of how getting outside of myself often helps with what otherwise debilitates me. I realize this may sound like a cliché. But for those who are afflicted with what sometimes afflicts me, it is no easy thing to get outside of yourself. This is true even as I recognize that it would "probably" help. My bishop's call was a godsend. Serving my bishop and the wonderful people of our diocese for two-and-a-half straight days was such a privilege and so helpful to me.

In my experience, this is how God's grace works, that is, in ordinary and yet unexpected ways. My bishop's phone call came out of the blue! Having traveled like this with my bishop before, I was once again able to see how his life is almost totally dedicated to self-giving service. While he gets physically tired sometimes, he serves with such joy and fervor. He is a great example to me. Putting some physical distance between myself and my everyday life also helps me gain some perspective on my perceived troubles. Who knows? I may be able to preach again soon. We'll see how things go.

In addition to this post, I have another one coming this week. It will contain some interesting and exciting ecclesiastical news.

Thoughts for a Saturday

Today is the last day of July. It seemed fitting, therefore, to post something here on Καθολικός διάκονος. Because, as I mentioned yesterday, mid-July to mid-August provokes the doldrums in me, it is also a time I find it hard to blog (is that a verb?). Whether in the Church or in the world, there is no shortage of things to write about.

I was tempted to post something about Pope Francis's motu proprio, Traditionis Custodes, restricting the celebration of the Mass and other rites according to the pre-Vatican II missal and other liturgical books. But apart from agreeing wholeheartedly with the Holy Father, including his reasons for restricting the use of the older Latin liturgical rites, I don't have much to say about it. This does not mean I am unsympathetic toward those who, in good faith, found benefit from these celebrations. I take heart in the fact that the pope gave much discretion to bishops in the regulation of the use of the liturgy in Latin, something Summorum Pontificum removed from them. This removal, as Pope Francis noted, has been to the overall detriment of both local churches and the universal church.

As Director of the Office of the Diaconate for my diocese, I am continuing to lead the process of forming a new class of aspirants. Aspirants are men who aspire to become deacons. According to the most recent iteration of the National Directory for the Formation, Life, and Ministry of Permanent Deacons in the United States, Apsirancy is now two years. Aspirancy is a time of discernment both on the part of the Church as well as on the part of the aspirant and his wife. With this change, formation for ordination to the diaconate as a permanent deacon is now a bit less than six years. Contrast this with the four years my class spent in formation from start to finish.

Discernment is critical. Discernment is a process. Discernment is a two-way street. If the Church does not call you, you are not called. Like other ecclesial vocations such as priesthood and religious life, it is important for someone who aspires to be a deacon to have enough exposure to deacons and the diaconate for the romance to wear off. Cutting to the chase, the magic of wearing an alb, stole, and dalmatic and sitting upfront in Mass wears off in about a month. A deacon is a servant. Hence, deacons do what needs doing according to their gifts, skills, knowledge, and availability. But if you don't like making coffee, setting up, and putting away chairs, the diaconate is probably not for you. The way I like to state it: Aspirancy is for those who think they aspire to be deacons.

Being on the committee for the planning and execution of my diocese's annual Pastoral Congress, along with the directors of the offices of Faith Formation, Hispanic Ministry, and Worship, I was asked to write an article for our diocesan newspaper on deacons as catechists. Below is a section of the article I have already shared publicly:

The vast majority of Catholic permanent deacons throughout the world, in the United States and in the Diocese of Salt Lake City are married. Because of this, deacons are uniquely called to simultaneously live out the sacraments at the service of communion: holy matrimony and holy orders. Deacon Owen Cummings dubbed these “the diaconal sacraments.”

Most married permanent deacons are also parents. Like all Christian parents, deacons with children, along with their spouses, have responsibility for being the first and main teachers of the faith. This helps them understand firsthand the challenges and opportunities involved with imparting an understanding of Christian faith in the hearts and minds of young people.

Being married clerics also ideally situates many deacons, often alongside their spouses, to prepare couples for marriage. Deacons and their wives should be involved in parish and diocesan marriage enrichment programs as both participants and presenters. Preparing parents for the baptism of infants and small children is also a fruitful catechetical service.

When done well, advocating canonically for those engaged in a marriage annulment process is a chance to offer compassionate pastoral care. Additionally, serving as a canonical advocate for someone involved in an often painful, sometimes lengthy, and far too often incomprehensible annulment process presents an opportunity to assist them in attaining a deeper understanding of and greater appreciation for the sacrament of matrimony.

After it appears in the Intermountain Catholic, I will post the article in its entirety.

Another reason for posting today was to see if I could still sit down and type something coherent and hopefully useful on the blank screen. Whether or not I accomplished that can only be judged by you, dear reader.

Anniversary reflections on being a deacon

On this day seventeen years ago, then-Bishop George Niederauer ordained me a deacon. It had been his intention to ordain my class on the anniversary of his ordination to the episcopacy, which is 25 January- the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul. But back in 2004, 25 January was on a Sunday. And so, he ordained us on Saturday, 24 January 2004. I write "then-Bishop" because George Niederauer went on to serve as Archbishop of San Francisco from 2005 until his retirement in 2012. He died on 2 May 2017.

Since it is the anniversary of my ordination today, please permit me the indulgence of once again noting how quickly time passes. In January 2004, I was thirty-eight years old. Up until a few years ago, I remained the youngest permanent deacon in the Diocese of Salt Lake City. I am still on the younger side of the average age of permanent deacons in my diocese.

Like most permanent deacons, I simultaneously participate in the two sacraments at the service of communion, what my friend, teacher, and mentor Deacon Owen Cummings refers to as "the diaconal sacraments"- the sacraments of holy matrimony and holy orders. At least for Catholics, matrimony comes with the implied vocation to parenthood. Now, the "implied" vocation of parenthood may not be realized in marriage for a variety of reasons. In my case, it has been made real six times!

This simultaneous participation in the diaconal sacraments is but one of the very unique and indispensable aspects of the diaconate restored and renewed as a permanent order of ministry in the Catholic Church by the Second Vatican Council. Of course, there are unmarried deacons who vow celibacy. There are even permanent deacons in religious orders, who, along with their confreres, live the evangelical councils of chastity, poverty, and obedience. There are permanent deacons who are widowed. There are even deacons whose marriages, sadly, have ended and who still continue to minister as deacons. There is great strength in this diversity.

I was ordained with 23 other men. One of those was destined to go to another diocese and went through formation here in Utah. Seven of my classmates have died. Another eight are retired from active ministry. Not counting Roger (the one who was ordained for another diocese) there are eight of us still actively serving in the Diocese of Salt Lake City.

I have been privileged, with the assistance of my local Church, to pursue a Master of Arts degree in Pastoral Ministry. I was also supported in my pursuit of the on-going education needed to obtain the equivalency of a Master of Divinity degree. This equivalency allowed me to go on to earn a Doctor of Ministry degree.

On the day of my ordination with my very dear friend, Fr. J.T. Lane, SSS, who vested me as a deacon

Both my master's thesis and my doctoral dissertation are on aspects of the permanent diaconate: Making Up for What Was Previously Lacking: The Importance for the Church of the Dual Sacramentality of Married Permanent Deacons and Diaconal Spirituality: A Systematic Exploration, respectively. With any luck, I hope to have both accepted for publication. Indications are good that this might happen.

On 1 March 2020, Bishop Solis, who currently serves as Bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, appointed me as the Director of the Office of Deacons. In that role, I oversee the formation of new deacons and the on-going formation of current deacons. I also have the responsibility of looking out for permanent deacons and their wives. While I still serve in a parish, these days the bulk of my service is to my fellow deacons on behalf of my bishop.

When I began diaconal formation, my wife and I were parents of two children and expecting our third. Along the way, we've been blessed with three more. While the conjugal life of married permanent deacons is, oddly, a source of canonical vexation, it is lived out in a healthy and human way by married deacons and their wives. In this way, the sacrament of holy matrimony is attenuated by the sacrament holy orders. I will leave it there, to pursue this more deeply, you'll have to wait for the book or find a way of obtaining and reading my master's thesis.

While pastoral ministry has its ups and downs, I am grateful to be chosen to serve the Church and the world as a deacon. Of course, the model deacon is Jesus Christ. To write about the diaconate without mentioning Christ would be a travesty.

As Jesus taught his disciples: "For who is greater: the one seated at table or the one who serves? Is it not the one seated at table? I am among you as the one who serves" (Luke 22:27). The phrase "one who serves" is the translation of one Greek word: διακονῶν (i.e., diakonon), which translates as "deacon." "I am among you as a deacon." Serving after the manner of Jesus is what it means, to employ a phrase used by Archbishop Gomez in his Foreward to Deacon James Keating's book, The Heart of the Diaconate, for deacons to act in persona Christi servi- in the person of Christ the servant.

I hope, by the grace of God, to be worthy of ministry to which I have been called. I also hope to serve for many more years. When Jesus calls you, as he did Andrew, Peter, James, and John in today's Gospel (see Mark 1:14-20), it is to lead you not just on a journey, but to invite you on an adventure.

Salt Lake City (finally) has a bishop

My diocese, the Diocese of Salt Lake City, which comprises the entire state of Utah, had been sede vacante (i.e., "a vacant seat"), that is, a diocese without a bishop, since April 2015 when Pope Francis named our former bishop, John Wester, the archbishop of Santa Fe, New Mexico. This 21 month vacancy was the longest in the history of our local church.

On Tuesday, 10 January 2017, His Excellency, Bishop Oscar Solis, was named by Pope Francis as the tenth bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City. Bishop Solis was the first Filipino to be ordained a bishop for service in the United States of America. His ordination as bishop was the first episcopal ordination that took place in Our Lady of Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles.

Bishop Oscar Solis, tenth Bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City

Bishop Solis was born and raised in the Philippines. He attended seminary and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Cabanatuan in the Philippines in 1979. In 1984 he went to Rome to study canon law. He returned to the Philippines where he served in several different capacities. He did not come to United States until he was in his late 30s. He served several years in New Jersey and then in Louisiana prior to being named an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2003 at age 50. He was ordained in 2004. Prior to being named ordinary of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, he was serving as the head of the San Pedro pastoral region of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. You can read more about him and the circumstances of his appointment to Salt Lake City here.

I now have a pastor, Fr. René as we call him, and a bishop from the Philippines, which is wonderful. This came together nicely for me after talking to my pastor and reading about his introduction to our new bishop at last Tuesday's press conference in The Salt Lake Tribune:

As the questions wrapped up, the Rev. Reynato Rodillas, Filipino priest at St. Olaf Parish in Bountiful, addressed the incoming bishop in their common language [Tagalog]. Solis' face lit up with delight as he rushed to embrace the man. The pair conversed for a few minutes, and the Solis interpreted for the group, 'He said, "Watch out."

"Now," he said, "I now where to go to eat rice"

I hope our new bishop comes to St. Olaf Parish often to break bread and eat rice. From one of your deacons, Welcome Bishop Solis! I am pretty sure I can speak for many members of our diocesan clergy when I say, "We've been waiting for you." I am confident the Lord has chosen the best person to lead His flock in Utah.

Bishop Solis will be installed as tenth bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City on 7 March 2017 in The Cathedral of the Madeleine, where I joyfully served for many years.

Deacons and priests need to work together

Yesterday I mentioned that last weekend, along with my brother deacons and many of their wives, I was privileged to once again participate in our diocese's annual weekend-long deacon retreat. It's always a joy to see, spend time among, and talk to many of my brother deacons. One thing that remains clear to me after nearly 13 years of being a permanent Roman Catholic deacon is, generally speaking, priests don't care much for permanent deacons. As in most things, there are certainly exceptions. I don't make this observation in an accusatory way, or because something has recently happened in my own ministry that pissed me off. I make it simply as an observation over nearly 13 years of ministry. For what it's worth, I firmly believe it's something that can be overcome and rectified if it's given the attention it deserves. In my experience, not much caring for permanent deacons is true both of more and less traditionally-oriented priests. It seems this not much caring for deacons takes two forms, which I will seek to set forth in a very generalized manner.

In the first instance a permanent deacon isn't deemed by the priest to be ministerally competent. Lack of ministerial competency, which does not necessarily, or even usually, imply utter incompetency, usually results from inadequate initial and/or the utter lack of on-going formation, as well as the lack of genuine opportunities to serve, opportunities that allow the deacon to hone his skills. In such cases the priest dismisses him as not being up to the task. Of course, the fact that many priests eschew on-going formation themselves- something that shows in their ministries, often taking the form of the outmoded "Father knows all, makes the decisions with little or no consultation, and does all the things that really matter" view of ministry- is usually overlooked. About those deacons who may be ministerally incompetent, remember, no deacon is even accepted as a candidate for ordination without a strong recommendation from his pastor!

The second generalized instance involves a deacon who was initially well-formed and who actively seeks to improve his ministerial skills. These deacons are often viewed as a threat, as a competitor, someone to be kept in his place by various means. This often holds true despite the fact that people in most parishes are pastorally under-served. But there is no need to compete or priests to feel threatened by competent and active permanent deacons because the pastoral need in most parishes far outstrips the parish's pastoral capacity, even when one thinks about priest(s) and deacon(s) working together at something like full capacity. There are reasons why, by-and-large, Catholics no longer seek pastoral advice and counsel, spiritual direction, if you will, in matters affecting their lives, even when it comes to complex moral issues such as in-vitro fertilization, marriage preparation and counsel, end-of-life issues, etc. In other words, even in matters that seem to call for pastoral consultation and input as a serious Catholic prayerfully discerns what to do, or seeks assistance in trying times, people seem to grasp there is often not much to be gained from seeking pastoral advice, which assumes it's made available when they seek it. This is a challenge for the Church across-the-board.

How both of these states-of-affairs are typically made manifest is the refusal of priests to have anything substantial to do with deacons assigned to their parishes, choosing instead to keep them at arms length. In many situations, it seems, the best a permanent deacon can hope for is a kind of benign neglect that gives him a certain list of things to do which he is then left to do with little or no interference. In my own diocese I aware of permanent deacons willing, able, and ordained to serve who are given either trivial or, in some instances, nothing to do. In short, when it comes to ministry, many permanent deacons are under-employed, which is not only to their own detriment, but that of the entire parish and, in the aggregate, the detriment of the entire Church. Collaborative ministry requires communication and partnership. As in all such relationships, be they personal, professional, or pastoral, these require effort, work, and no little creativity. At minimum the fruitful collaborative relationship between priests and deacons requires a view of pastoral ministry that involves deacons. Fruitful collaborative relationships don't just happen, they require leadership and initiative.

It's surprising to me that priests working with deacons and deacons working with priests does not seem to be given much emphasis in either priestly or diaconal formation. What often passes for this in diaconal formation is for the deacon to be utterly deferential in every way to the priest(s) he serves alongside. While it's not the job of the deacon to play loyal opposition or be a divisive force within the community, much less to play devil's advocate, such an utterly deferential attitude can seriously compromise a deacon's diakonia. A deacon should not reject his pastor's authority, but he shouldn't be shy about speaking up when it's the right thing to do. Ideally, such speaking up is done at a time and in a place when and where it is not divisive for the community, but useful. This means such times and places must exist.

One thing I've never understood is what in reality is a priests' convocation being billed as "Clergy Convocation" while excluding deacons. Why do deacons and priests of a given diocese not come together, say, once a year for a convocation together, an actual Clergy Convocation? Are there dioceses that do these kinds of things? How often do the clergy of a parish, even if it's one priest and one deacon, get together to discuss ministry to the parish and build fellowship with one another in order to foster koinonia in the community they serve? Why is communication often done through intermediaries, like parish staff, and not directly, even in relatively small parishes? Deacons and priests working together strikes me as a matter of great importance for the Roman Catholic Church in the United States and other countries that have a well-established permanent diaconate. I think we're overdue for this matter to be given its due.

Doubting Thomas and Christian experience

Today is the Feast of St Thomas the Apostle. He's better known as "Doubting Thomas."

It's always disturbing to me when Christians and non-Christians alike reduce being a Christian to moralism and then gauge the "Christianity" of themselves and/or others by how well their life/lives conform to a rigorous set of moral prescriptions and proscriptions. I wholly agree that our Lord sets the bar impossibly high, insisting that act and intention align to do what is good and avoid what is evil. Our intention cannot be so we can earn merit in order to go to heaven. Try as you might, you'll miss the mark. If you're anything like me, you won't even come close to hitting it. Rather what we do, or refrain from doing, must flow from a genuine love of God and of neighbor.

Loving God and our neighbor, while distinguishable, are inextricably bound together. So bound together are they that we read in Sacred Scripture: "If anyone says, 'I love God,' but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen" (1 John 4:20). See what I mean? If I ask myself how often does what I do, or refrain from doing, rise to this standard I am bound to be disappointed by the honest answer. But then I am not really all that holy, which is why I need help. I don't write that in an attempt to be charmingly self-deprecating. It's true. I am not very holy. I am not very righteous, which makes the times I am self-righteous all the more ironic.

The point of the above digression is simple: in Jesus' apostles, or, as they are denoted in St John's Gospel, His 12 closest disciples, we do not find 12 guys who have it all figured out, who have their act together, who have their path to God's kingdom greased so they can easily slide along it. Jesus chose flawed, broken people because there weren't any other kind of people to choose. Even so, I often wonder, weren't there better people around to choose? Looking at it from a moralistic perspective, I am pretty sure there were better people. From a divine perspective, the answer is - Jesus chose the right guys. Jesus came to reveal God to us fully. I don't believe for one minute that Jesus chose Judas because His mental checklist, like that of a casting director, required Him to choose a betrayer. But that would be a digression beyond the scope of this reflection, but worth deep consideration and meditation (see Andy Freeman's take on Judas here and here).

Doubting Thomas, by Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1308-1311

And so, Thomas...

When Christians, myself included, read the Gospels we're prone to romanticize it beyond belief. Reading the Gospels this side of Christ's resurrection makes it very difficult for us to understand how disappointed and even disillusioned Jesus' disciples were after His death. WTF? I am sure doesn't begin to express what they were feeling. I believe my own experience, which is the only one I have, confirms Thomas' experience, which is that disappointment and disillusionment constitute the starting point of grace.

George Carlin, who became and remained a disillusioned Catholic most of his life, once said, "Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist." But isn't it our idealism that gets us into trouble in the first place? I mean, there is the world as I would like it to be and the world as I experience it. If I live life this way every day I have a huge chasm to bridge every day. I'll be honest, many days I choose to live this way. I'll be brutally honest, those days suck.

The answer to this truth about human existence is not to look at the world through rose-colored glasses, but through the eyes of faith. As with our tendency to reduce being Christian to being "moral," we all too often think that to see ourselves, other people, and the world through the eyes of faith is the same as putting on rose-colored glasses. No! Faith requires us to see ourselves, others, and our circumstances for exactly what they are. At least for me, the power of the writings of Joris Karl Huysmans, Flannery O'Connor, and Walker Percy lies in the fact that each in their own way show us just this. But for a Christian to leave it at that (i.e., seeing everything for what it is) is also to reduce reality. It is a failure to engage reality according to all the factors that constitute the world.

"The world," what an expression! What is "the world"? I take my cue from the very beginning of Wittgenstein's Tractatus: "The world is all that is the case."

Faith requires an object. You can't have faith in faith. There is no point in having faith in fate, which is both arbitrary and indifferent towards you. The cornerstone of faith in Christ is His resurrection from the dead, which "is the case." This is why it is so vital to have a personal encounter with the risen Lord. It is not enough to have just one encounter with Him. We need to encounter Him over and over, daily, if you're up to it. Where does this encounter happen? It happens in the ordinary circumstances of daily life. He meets us in our need via our acknowledged neediness. This is why C.S. Lewis wrote, "Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done." Sometimes I find this simple statement frightening and discouraging (see "Beginning anew each day is a grace"). As He did with doubting Thomas, Jesus shows us time and again that the path to the Father's house runs straight through disappointment and disillusionment. How else can we break through to what is real? Eugene Peterson put it this way: "Our faith develops out of the most difficult aspects of our existence, not the easiest."

Our traditio is Rich Mullins' "Surely God is With Us," the demo tape version of the album we was working on prior to being unexpectedly killed in an auto accident way back in 1997. Has it been that long? Damn.

The Diocese of Salt Lake City and its bishops

His Excellency, John C. Wester, served as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City. Who were his predecessors?

Bishop Lawrence Scanlan, first bishop of Salt Lake City

The Apostolic Vicariate of Utah was established by Pope Leo XIII in 1887. Also in 1887, 29 January, to be exact, Lawrence Scanlan from Ballytarsna, Ireland was ordained a bishop and named the head of the Apostolic Vicariate. Prior to being ordained a bishop, Scanlan was a priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco. In 1891, Pope Leo XIII elevated the Apostolic Vicariate of Utah to a diocese. By doing so, he created the Diocese of Salt Lake City.

A list of the diocese's bishops follow:

Lawrence Scanlan- 1891-1915 (died 10 May 1915)
Joseph Sarfield Glass, C.M.- 1915-1926 (died 26 January 1926- our only bishop, thus far, who belonged to a religious order- Congregation of the Mission, or Vincentians)
John Mitty- 1926-1932 (named Coadjutor Archbishop of San Francisco, 29 January 1932)
James Kearney- 1932-1937 (named Bishop of Rochester, NY, 31 July 1937)
Duane Hunt- 1927-1960 (died 31 March 1960)
Joseph Federal- 1960-1980- (named Coadjutor to Bishop Hunt in 1958, succeeded upon Bishop Hunt's death, retired 22 April 1980)
William Weigand- 1980-1993 (named Bishop of Sacramento, 30 November 1993)
George Niederauer- 1994-2005 (named Archbishop of San Francisco, 15 December 2005)
John Wester- 2006-2015 (named Archbishop of Santa Fe, 27 April 2015)

The Diocese of Salt Lake City, prior to Bishop Federal being installed as Bishop Hunt's coadjutor bishop, had one auxiliary bishop: Leo Steck. A priest of the Archdiocese of St Louis, Bishop Steck was appointed and ordained in 1948 (he was the titular bishop of Ilium), but died prematurely on 19 June 1950.

Archbishop Robert Joseph Dwyer, first priest from Utah to become a bishop

In the history of the Diocese of Salt City, two priests of our diocese have been ordained bishops: Duane Hunt, who, as noted above, served as bishop of Salt Lake City, and Robert Dwyer, who served first as bishop of the Diocese of Reno from 1952-1966 before becoming Archbishop of Portland, Oregon, where he served from 1966 until he encountered poor health in 1974, which caused him to resign. He died in 1976. Archbishop Dwyer was the first native Utahn ordained a priest.

Bishop Joseph Federal participated in all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council. It was also Bishop Federal who, on 26 December 1976, the Feast of St Stephen, ordained 11 men the first permanent deacons for our diocese.

John Wester: new Archbishop of Santa Fe

Yesterday was my last day serving at The Cathedral of the Madeleine. It was a tough day emotionally, but a wonderful day too. If that isn't enough, I awoke this morning to the news that Pope Francis, upon accepting the resignation of Archbishop Michael Sheehan of Santa Fe, New Mexico, who is 75, which is the mandatory retirement age for bishops, appointed our bishop, John Wester, as the new Archbishop of Santa Fe. All I can say is, WOW!

I am happy for (Arch)bishop Wester, but sad for him to leave. I had the great privilege of serving alongside him in our beloved Cathedral of the Madeleine many times and worked on various diocesan committees and commissions, even serving on a few ad hoc committees. He baptized our youngest son and has simply been wonderful to me and to my family. I can call him both my bishop and my friend.

On Friday I met with my new pastor on the very day Bishop Wester signed the document incardinating him as a priest of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, meaning, instead of being "Parish Administrator," he is now canonically and formally our Pastor. Prior to his incardination in our diocese, he was a member of the Society of the Divine Word. While excited to be a priest of our diocese, I think he was a little sad to formally leave his order, which is how I feel about leaving the Cathedral and moving to St Olaf's, and how I feel about (Arch)bishop Wester's appointment to Santa Fe- excited for him, but a bit sad. He is scheduled to be installed in Santa Fe on 4 June 2015.

From the Diocese of Salt Lake City's press release:

His Holiness, Pope Francis, has named Bishop John C. Wester the twelfth Archbishop of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Bishop Wester, the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City and a native of San Francisco, California, has led Utah’s Catholics since March 2007

According to the diocesan press release, the Holy Father did not name an apostolic administrator to see our diocese through this interregnum. Bishop Wester will serve as Apostolic Administrator of our diocese until he is formally installed in Santa Fe. So, at some point, our Diocesan Consultors will meet to elect a priest who will serve as our diocesan administrator until the appointment and installation of our new bishop.

Where have I been? What have I been up to?

It's been an entire week since I posted anything here. I have been meaning all year to step back, to post a bit less, like last year. But 2013 has been such an eventful year in the world as well as in my own life. I didn't even post a Friday traditio last week. I can't remember the last time I did not. My reason for that is that just today the deacons of the Diocese of Salt Lake City concluded our annual retreat.

It is always a great joy to gather with my brother deacons, together with our wives, for a few days each year. Our retreat master was Fr. Felix Just, SJ, who serves as the Executive Director of Loyola Institute for Spirituality in Orange, California. I can't imagine how wonderful it must be for Catholics in Orange County, Los Angeles, and beyond to have such a place. This is the second year in a row that we have a had a Jesuit retreat master from Loyola. Last year our retreat focused on Ignatian spirituality and discernment. This year, Fr. Just, who is a New Testament scholar, took as our theme "Abide in/with Me," a focus on St. John's Gospel (our bishop, John Wester, has "Abide in Christ" as his episcopal motto). I was excited to learn about Fr. Just's personal website, Catholic Resources, where he makes many of his Scripture resources available for free. As both of my readers know, I focus a lot on Sacred Scripture, on the inexhaustible riches the inspired texts contain for us. One can no more "completely" master Scripture than one can come to a complete, definitive understanding of God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

One aspect of the retreat I personally found most fruitful was using no electronic media whatsover at anytime (i.e., no Android phone, no computer, t.v., radio, etc.). Prior to heading for our retreat on Friday afternoon, I printed Fr. Antonio Spadaro, S.J.'s entire interview with Pope Francis, which appeared in the U.S. in America magazine, as well as on their website, under the title "A Big Heart Open to God." In addition to being able to spend quite a bit of time in personal prayer, I read this interview along with the Scripture texts Fr. Just gave us to meditate and pray with (I also finished re-reading N.T. Wright's Simply Jesus- I was almost done) during my time alone on the retreat. Rather than even try to summarize the effect all of this had on me, let me just say I came away greatly blessed, refreshed, and encouraged. I am sure I will have a few things to post arising from from my reading of the interview with the Holy Father and our retreat. If you have not yet, I urge you to read the pope's interview its entirety. In addition to being greatly interested in what I will call his cultural formation (i.e., what literature, music, movies have moved and influenced him), even while he discussed it in the context of his own life and ministry, I was struck by what the pope had to say about discernment.

Old and New Testaments, by German artist Rudolf Koch (1876-1934- from http://catholic-resources.org/Art/index.html)

Finally coming to our readings for this Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, the operative word both for this week's readings and next week's, on which I will preach, is challenging. This is not only true of our Gospel readings, taken from the sixteenth chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, but extend to our two readings from the Book of the Prophet Amos, which strike me as smacking more than a little of what the pope is trying to convey to the Church, especially to the her ministers (i.e., people like me). What do I mean? In answer, I offer this much-quoted passage from his interview:

I see clearly... that the thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else. Heal the wounds, heal the wounds.... And you have to start from the ground up (second ellipsis in original- first added by me)

From our first reading for today: "Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land," proclaims Amos before describing the ways in which the needy and poor are trampled upon and ending with this- "The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Never will I forget a thing they have done!" Of course, the "they" to whom the prophet refers are those who trample on the poor and needy.

Dear friends, we'll see what the coming week has in store for us. In the meantime, may the peace and blessing of Almighty God be with you all.

Ordination anniversary

Along with my classmates, I was ordained a deacon in the Cathedral of the Madeleine by then-Bishop George Niederauer eight years ago today, 24 January 2004. It's difficult to believe that it has been that long. Given the special relationship between a bishop and his deacons, I have always thought it significant that we were ordained just one day prior to the ninth anniversary of Archbishop Niederauer's episcopal ordination, which was 25 January 1995, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. It is pretty cool that we were ordained on the liturgical memorial of St. Francis de Sales, who, among other heavenly duties, is the patron saint of writers and journalists (anyone who undertakes to read these pages can see how badly I need his intercession!). We were ordained on a Saturday, the twenty-fifth that year being a Sunday.

So, to my brothers Manuel, Manuel, Tom, Herschel, Jack, Steve, Forrest, Dan, Marcel, Paul, John, John, John, George, Gene, Roger, Willie Willis, Ricardo, and Billy, Happy Anniversary! Today I also remember our departed classmates: Gerry, Scott, and Aniceto.

With Fr. Dave Fitzpatrick in Iraq, January 2006

In a still very relevant New Testament word study, “Behind the Word ‘Deacon’: A New Testament Study,” published in 1983, D. Edmond Hiebert notes that the Greek personal noun διάκονος, which transliterates to diakonos and comes into English as “deacon,” occurs in the New Testament thirty times. Those passages in the New Testament, apart from the Gospels, in which this word or one of its variants, shows that most occurrences do not refer to an office, ministry, or any official role in the nascent Christian community. Hiebert also asserts that “deacon” must be differentiated from “slave,” at least in 1 Philippians 1:1, where Paul seems to refer “deacon” as an office in the church. The word “deacon” in the New Testament generally denotes a voluntary servant, a minister, an attendant; only occasionally, as in 1 Timothy 3:8, does “deacon” refer to an office, as it does in Philippians 1:1 and 1 Timothy 3:12. As a voluntary servant, or minister, a deacon, according to Hiebert, is distinct from a slave. The ancient Greek word for “slave” is doulos. This distinction helps demonstrate that the term “deacon,” as it is used in ancient Christian sources, cannot be equated to “servant,” without a certain qualification. So, the deacon is one who is called forward to serve others. As Herbert Vorgrimler wrote: “In his person, the deacon makes it clear that the liturgy must have consequences in the world with all its needs, and that work in the world that is done in a spirit of charity has a spiritual dimension.”

Ad multos annos dear brothers!

St. Stephen, pray for us

Since today is Sunday and on the Sunday after Christmas we observe the feast of The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the great day of my patron saint (being Scott Stephen from birth), who is also the patron of this weblog, St. Saint Stephen, is mostly passed over this year, which is okay because without Jesus, Mary, and Joseph there would be no St. Stephen. Of course, St. Stephen's day is also traditionally a special day for deacons. In fact, it was 34 years ago today that Bishop Joseph Lennox Federal, then the bishop of Salt Lake City, ordained this diocese's first permanent deacons. So, to my dear brothers, especially Deacon Silvio Mayo, our diocesan chancellor, with whom I am privileged to serve at the Cathedral of the Madeleine, happy anniversary. All of us who walk the trail you blazed in our local church owe you a debt of gratitude.

To mark this day, I will share a brief snippet from a massive part of an even larger work I am laboring on and, with St. Stephen's heavenly help, I will finish before Easter:

"Acts 6:1 reads: 'At that time, as the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.' In Greek, the last word of this translated passage is διακονία, which transliterates as diakonia. In the following verse the twelve say to the gathered Jerusalem community, '[i]t is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table' (Acts 6:2). The words 'to serve' are the Greek verb διακονέω, transliterated diakonein. The word diakonia appears again in verse four when the apostles determine to set the seven men apart for service to the Greek-speaking widows of the nascent Christian community so that they might devote themselves more fully 'to prayer and to the ministry of the word.' The word 'ministry' in this verse is a translation of diakonia.

Martyrdom of St. Stephen by Lorenzo Lotto, AD 1516

"Examining this passage serves a dual purpose. First, it shows the difficulty in drawing straight lines from current ecclesial praxis back to the apostolic church. Secondly, it demonstrates the often ambiguous nature of the word 'deacon' in all its forms as it is used by New Testament authors, showing that most frequently it refers to an activity, not to a specific office, or order of ministry, in the church. Two of the three usages of various forms of the word 'deacon' in these verses of Acts indirectly refer to the seven. The first use of diakonia implies what service they are to be set apart for, namely insuring an equal distribution of food daily among the widows of the community, a community that held all things in common, thus they were set apart primarily as peace-makers and bridge-builders within the community. Closely bound up with the first appearance of diakonia is the word diakonein that the twelve use to describe the very service for which the seven are set apart by the laying on of hands. It also bears noting that despite distinguishing being in charge of the daily distribution, which apparently included something like waiting tables, from the diakonia of the word, which, along with having adequate time to pray, is why the twelve wanted to be free from being in charge of the daily distribution, especially in light of the dispute that arose, we shortly read that 'Stephen, filled with grace and power' began 'working great wonders and signs among the people' and launching into an extended sermon that constitutes part of the authentic Christian proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 6:9). So, while this and subsequent references to the seven men, only two of whom, Stephen and Philip, we read more about in Acts, do not refer to them as deacons, it is easy to understand why they represent the biblical basis for this order of ministry."

Veni adoramus

Now for some local news...

I am happy to draw attention to two wonderful on-line developments here in the Diocese of Salt Lake City. The first is Bishop Wester's blog, Tuesday Tapestry. I welcome His Excellency to the Catholic blogosphere! I'm guessing he'll post stuff on Tuesdays.

Additionally, I am very pleased that Dr. Gary Topping's From the Archives feature is back on the main page of our diocesan website. Dr. Topping, our diocesan archivist and historian, a man whose services we are so very blessed have, is also a Cathedral parishioner. Additionally, Gary is a dear personal friend, a brilliant man with a sparkle in his eye and tremendous sense of humor, who wears his erudition lightly.

I don't mind letting the cat half way out of the bag, but Dr. Topping has written an article for our diocesan newspaper, The Intermountain Catholic, about our first bishop, Lawrence Scanlan. Bishop Scalan is interesting because for such a recent historical figure, he remains very enigmatic. For example, a few years ago Gary told me that nowhere in our extensive diocesan archive do we have anything that Bishop Scanlan preached. His article will appear in an upcoming issue. So, stayed tuned!




You will find links to both over on the right side of Καθολικός διάκονος under the Our Local Church heading.

The Story of the Cathedral of the Madeleine

Just in time for our centennial, Dr. Gary Topping and photographer Ann Torrence have published an updated book on our lovely lady: The Cathedral of the Madeleine. The book made its public debut on St. Mary Magdalene's feast yesterday. I think Gary and Ann sold all the copies they had on hand. It is a well done book all the way around.

The Story of the Cathedral of the Madeleine is published by Sagebrush Press of Salt Lake City and costs $16.95.

Bishop Wester, who wrote the forward to this great book, sums up our beautiful cathedral well:

"The Cathedral of the Madeleine has earned its place in the life of the people of Utah and is cherished by those of all faiths, cultures and traditions. It makes God mercifully immanent and at the same time awesomely transcendent as no other building can do. In this sense, the Cathedral is a revolving door through which heaven bound pilgrims can find rest, nourishment and peace along the way."

"The losers in this globalization game are the migrants themselves"

On the day he had surgery (i.e., yesterday), the Salt Lake Tribune published an editorial by our bishop, John Wester, on the issue of immigration. What Bishop Wester consistently shows is that what needs to be happening with regards to this highly-charged issue is at once clear-headed, compassionate, and practical. His editorial is entitled Migrants should be more than pawns in the game. The thing that really puts Catholic social teaching in contrast with so many other views on this issue is the insistence, on the part of Bishop Wester and other bishops, on not only recognizing, but putting the humanity of migrants at the center of the debate.

Bishop John Wester of the Diocese of Salt Lake City
"the United States receives the benefit of their toil and taxes without having to worry about protecting their rights, either in the courtroom or the workplace. When convenient, they are made political scapegoats and attacked -- both rhetorically and through work-site raids -- as if they were not human.

"Under this system, Mexico wins financially as well, as the country receives up to $20 billion in remittances per year without having to pay attention to the lower rungs of the economy."

Please keep Bishop Wester in your prayers, pray for his full recovery, for all afflicted with cancer, and pray that we can realize that justice and compassion are not mutually exclusive. Good Friday is a good time to pray for the alleviation of suffering and freedom for the oppressed.

An extraordinary evening

Last night at the dedication of Holy Family Parish, I had the opportunity to sit for supper with a group of distinguished gentlemen, all of whom are priests of the Diocese of Salt Lake City and one Jesuit priest who has long served here. It was my privilege to be in their company. It was a delightfully mixed group with three monsignors, including the pastor of the parish in which we reside, Msgr. Daz and two of our younger priests, including Fr. Sam Dinsdale, our youngest pastor. Our group also included Fr. Ken Villapondo, pastor of St. Joseph's in Ogden, which includes some 4,000 families. Msgr. Daz, Fr. Dinsdale, and I are all Ogden natives.

The food was good, the wine fine, and the company extraordinary. I thank God for all of them, for their service and their sacrifice, all of which have been instrumental in building our diocese, the church in Utah.

The Diocese of Salt Lake City. Oh, how we have grown!

The results for the Pew Forum on Religion in Public Life's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey are now available. While anybody interested can read the results of the survey, which is "[b]ased on interviews with more than 35,000 Americans age 18 and older" (35,556 to be exact), for themselves, I want to look at only one thing, the number of Catholics in the State of Utah. While the Church in this country, as Rocco points out, may be losing ground overall, in terms of the number of Catholics in our diocese, as then-Bishop Niederauer has pointed out, we have grown more in the past ten years than we did in the previous one hundred. So, the question is, just how much have we grown? To make some sort of an estimate, which is an educated guess, as opposed to a WAG, I am using two sources: the Pew Survey and the U.S. Census Bureau.

The latest Census Bureau data, which is from 2006, puts Utah's overall population at 2,550,063. The Pew survey puts the Catholic population of Utah at 10%. This means that there are approximately 255,000 Catholics in the state. Due to a number of factors, Utah's percentages have a rather high margin of error at +/- 6.0%. This in contrast to a margin of error for the national numbers of only +/- 0.6%. However, the margin of error for the 8,054 Catholic respondents across the country is +/- 1.5%, which still puts the Catholic population of our state comfortably over 250,000. I typically put the number at 200,000. This is based on old data. This weekend the Rector of The Cathedral of the Madeleine, where I serve, publicly put the number at 250,000, which caused me to wonder, but wonder no more- 250,000+ is the better number. Until the mid-1990s we estimated the number of Catholics in the state to be around 85,000. This is a funny number because The Diocese of Salt Lake City encompasses the whole State of Utah, the area of which is 84,990 square miles. The old number represented about one Catholic per square mile. Even now, Utah only has an overall population density of thirty people per square mile.

The Solemnity of the (Re) Dedication of The Cathedral of the Madeleine

Today at The Cathedral of the Madeleine, the parish I am privileged to serve as a deacon, is a Solemnity because it was on this day back in 1993 that the Cathedral was rededicated after two years of renovation. Over on our parish blog, Gregory Glenn, our Director of Liturgy and Music, who was instrumental in the renovation and who planned the re-dedication liturgy, as well as founding, along with Msgr. M. Francis Mannion, then the rector, our Madeleine Choir School, has been documenting this week's build up to today's noon Mass.

Next year we will mark the centennial of our lovely lady. Mr. Glenn posted a picture yesterday of the Cathedral as it was nearing completion in 1908, taken one hundred years ago yesterday. I am excited to see the contents of the time capsule, which we put on display. I have to admit being a little nervous this morning due to the 6.0 Richter scale earthquake just west of us this morning in Nevada, which was centered 11 miles southeast of Wells near the Nevada-Utah line, according to the Associated Press. For those of us who are life-long residents of the Intermountain West, we know that earthquakes release pressure off of fault lines, which is a good thing. Better slight shifts than sudden, massive ones.

Bishop Lawrence Scanlan
Please keep us, the people of St. Mary Magdalene, in your prayers today. If you feel so inclined, in addition to asking for your prayers, we can also assist you in making good on pledges of Lenten almsgiving by making a secure electronic donation to the Cathedral. I assure you that none of it goes to the Deacon Retirement Fund and it is, of course, tax deductible.

It always bears mentioning that our lovely Cathedral is largely the result of the efforts and dedication of one man, Bishop Lawrence Scanlan, our founding bishop. Bishop Scanlan, as per his wishes, is entombed beneath the old main altar of the Cathedral. I am always reminded of Bishop Scanlan's dedication, love, and determination by our Vicar General, a native Utahn and, like our pioneer bishop, also an Irishman, Msgr. Fitzgerald. Bishop Joseph S. Glass, CM, who succeeded Bishop Scanlan, is the man responsible for the interior grandeur of the Madeleine and for re-naming it the Cathedral the Madeleine, which is simply French for the original name, The Cathedral of St. Mary Magdalene.

I also want to post the link to the entire article Ron Yengitch (sic): Why We Defend the Guilty, by Barbara Stinson Lee. I have also made the update to my original post, Making justice our aim.

St. Mary Magdalene- pray for us.