Weekly Calendar Highlights
Saturday, January 15
- 7:00 am Cathedral Open for Private Prayer and Devotion
- 8:00 am Mass -
- 10:00 am Respect Life Memorial Mass
- 3:30 - 4:30 pm Holy Hour - concluding with Evening Prayer and Benediction
- 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm Confessions
- 5:00 pm Mass
- 6:00 pm Cathedral Closes
Sunday -2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
- 7:00 am Cathedral Open for Private Prayer and Devotion
- 8:00 am Mass - will also be livestreamed
- 9:00 am - 9:50 am Confessions
- 10:00 am Mass
- 11:00 am - 11:50 am Confessions
- 12:00 Noon Mass
- 1:00 pm - Sunday Tour of the Cathedral
- 2:30 pm Mass for Peace and Justice - will be livestreamed
- 5:00 pm Mass
- 6:00 pm Cathedral Closes
Dear Parishioners,
As you enter the Cathedral Basilica this week, you will notice that the Christmas decorations have all been removed and are now placed in storage until next year. I would like to take this opportunity to express gratitude to our staff and many volunteers who assisted in the long process of decorating the Basilica. It truly looked stunning this year and many of our visitors to the Cathedral commented how beautiful it looked.
Things will look darker in the Cathedral Basilica this week as we progress through our interior lighting project's Phase One. Electricians on Tuesday disconnected the power and control lines to the Main Dome so that new lines could be run through the same conduit. The hope is that the new fixtures will arrive in about seven weeks and be installed. Of course, this is all dependent on the supply chain working as expected. Thank you, in advance, for your patience, as we work to improve the lighting of the interior of the Cathedral.
With the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord, we have entered into the season of Ordinary Time. Our attention is now drawn away from the Christ child lying in the manger to Christ alive in the world. There is a biblical theme that I would like to propose to you as we enter into the new year: "Pray without ceasing" (I Thes 5: 17). St. Paul addressed the community of Thessalonica, which was experiencing inner disputes and conflicts in order to appeal forcefully for certain fundamental attitudes among which stands out ceaseless prayer.
With this invitation, He wanted to make people understand that the capacity to overcome all selfishness, to live together in peace and fraternal union, and for each one to bear the burdens and suffering of others comes from new life in Christ and in the Holy Spirit. We must never tire of praying for unity and peace in our world! When Jesus prayed at the Last Supper that "they may all be one," he had a precise goal in mind: "so that the world may believe" (Jn 17: 21).
This message is particularly apropos as we celebrate the Annual Archdiocesan Mass for Preservation of Peace and Justice which seeks to commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Archbishop Rozanski will be the main celebrant and homilist for the Mass. The gathering this year will be much smaller than in previous years but the Cathedral will be filled with songs and prayers praying for peace.
“All that I am saying is simply this, that all life is inter-related. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. So that whatever affects one directly, will affect all indirectly.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr., Commencement address at Oberlin College, 1965
Monsignor Breier
Spiritual Conversation and Confession
Fr. Marco will be available this week for Spiritual Conversation and Confession.