I note in Zenit's dispatch this evening that the Prelate of Opus Dei, Bishop Javier Echeverría, just celebrated his golden anniversary of priesthood with a mass at St. Mary Major, at which a letter from B16 was read prior to the homily. This brought back a happy memory, as I happened to be in St. Peter's on the feast of Epiphany when Padre Echeverría was consecrated bishop. I was just there for Epiphany --knew nothing in advance of the episcopal ordination taking place-- but you could tell something was up because St. Pete's was simply crawling with numeraries and supernumeraries. I say this affectionately; one of the beautiful experiences of spending a length of time in Rome is getting to know the different charisms of the Church. On a given day in St. Peter's, because of who's being beatified or consecrated, you may find the crowd dominated with that saint or person's co-religionists. You learn firsthand that way what "unity in diversity" means for the Church, because all these groups share the same faith and there's a joy that radiates from people living an authentic vocation; and at the same time, they really do each have a distinctive air about them. Hard to define, but you know it when you see it. Even more a joy is to see how many of these groups there are --and how many of them can fill St. Peter's. As Cardinal Ratzinger observed during JPG's funeral, the Church is alive and the Church is young!
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