Last month, our archdiocese welcomed Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul as he was installed as our new archbishop. At the end of this month – in two weeks – we will be privileged to welcome him here in our own church as he celebrates Mass for Deanery 2 on Monday, 30 March. As he mentioned at the installation Mass, Abp. Pérez wants to travel throughout the archdiocese to listen and learn from all of us. One of the ways that he will accomplish this is by visiting all of the deaneries in the archdiocese. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend the 7:00pm Mass and reception that will follow. All 22 parishes of our deanery are being invited so plan to arrive early; it will be a great celebration!
As you have probably already heard, Archbishop Pérez is delighted to return home to Philadelphia and is eager to get to know our archdiocese even better. Although Archbishop Pérez is Cuban (he likes to say that he was packaged in Cuba and delivered in the USA; his mother conceived him in Havana and gave birth in Miami), and lived in Florida and New Jersey while he was growing up, he studied for the priesthood here at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. He then spent 13 years in ministry here in this archdiocese, both in parish life (St. Ambrose and St. Williams Churches in Philadelphia and St. Agnes Church, West Chester), and in administration, first as the assistant director of the archdiocesan Office for Hispanic Catholics and then the founding director of the Catholic Institute for Evangelization. It was while he was in these two offices that I got to know him; during those same years, I was the director of the archdiocesan Family Life Office and then the Office for the Propagation of the Faith. I found him a pleasure to work with; he is a very friendly, engaging, down-to-earth, practical, can-do person. And, as the archbishop has said many times, “Once a Philadelphia priest, always a Philadelphia priest!”
As I mentioned above, all 22 parishes in Deanery 2 have been invited to join in the 7:00pm Mass on 30 March. In case you’re not familiar with the organizational structure of the archdiocese, allow me to explain. As you probably know, ours is a large archdiocese; the sixth largest in the country (after Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Boston and Brooklyn) with 1.3 million Catholics in 214 parishes in the five counties of Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware and Chester. To help the archbishop in his service of this large archdiocese, the archdiocese is divided into four regions; these, in turn, are divided into 12 deaneries. We are in Deanery 2, which takes in the 22 parishes in western Delaware County. I am the dean for this deanery and I’m delighted that we’ve been asked to host our new archbishop as he gets to know our archdiocese even better.
One of Abp. Pérez’ favorite sayings is: “Never underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit working in you, through you and despite you.” This saying is so important to him that he used it at the press conference when his appointment was made public and he had the entire congregation repeat it after him at his installation Mass. I think it’s a powerful message that we should all hear and take to heart. Our Lord, Jesus, promised the Holy Spirit when he was with his disciples at the Last Supper and the Holy Spirit continues to be very present in our Church. We receive the Holy Spirit at our baptism and are strengthened in the Holy Spirit at our confirmation. And, we should never underestimate his power working in our lives, even despite us. Let us join with our new archbishop in praying that we will all be open to the working of the Holy Spirit as Abp. Pérez begins to shepherd us. I hope to see you at this special Mass on 30 March at 7:00pm!