Utah gives thanks on day of Pope's inaugural Mass

Intermountain Catholic

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The Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City, celebrated a Mass March 19 in the Cathedral of the Madeleine honoring the installation of His Holiness Pope Francis as well as the Madeleine Choir School's Founders' Day. IC photo/Marie Mischel

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City Bishop John C. Wester celebrated Mass on March 19 in the Cathedral of the Madeleine "to give thanks to Almighty God for the inauguration of the ministry of Pope Francis as Bishop of Rome and universal pastor," he said. "We pray that through the intercession of St. Joseph, the Holy Spirit will guide our father Francis as he leads us, calling us to greater fidelity in service, charity and truth."

Pope Francis was inaugurated into his ministry in Vatican City several hours before the Utah celebration.

Concelebrating the Mass at the Cathedral of the Madeleine were Monsignor Colin F. Bircumshaw, vicar general; Monsignor J. Terrence Fitzgerald, vicar general emeritus; Monsignor Joseph M. Mayo, rector of the Cathedral of the Madeleine; Monsignor Michael J. Winterer, retired; Father John Evans, pastor of Saint Andrew Parish; and Father Eleazar Silva, parochial vicar of the Cathedral. Assisting at the Mass were Deacons Lynn Johnson, Drew Peterson, Dan Essary, Forrest Gray, Ricardo Arias and Silvio Mayo.

Significantly, the Mass was celebrated on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, patron saint of the Catholic Church.

"It strikes me that St. Joseph had a large part to play in how Jesus imagined God," Bishop Wester said, adding that Jesus had a tender image of God, calling him "Abba," which translates roughly as "Daddy."

St. Joseph also displayed to Jesus an unwavering faith in God, Bishop Wester said. "He had many obstacles, and yet he never lost faith, and what’s very evident here is that Joseph relied on the grace of God, and then he acted on it."

Pope Francis, who was elected March 13, also displays trust in God, Bishop Wester said. "His closeness to God is palpable. His love of God is palpable, and like St. Joseph he displays that love in what he does."

The Mass also celebrated the Madeleine Choir School’s Founders’ Day. At the school, the parents, teachers, staff and administrators "are doing all they can to communicate this loving, tender and merciful God," Bishop Wester said.

Likewise, everyone should trust in God, the bishop said, and prayed that "this same providential, loving God, through the intercession of St. Joseph, be with you dear children always, and may he be with our Holy Father as he begins his pontificate and leads us in the ways of faith."