With the rededication of our Cathedral on Nov. 20, the Feast of Christ the King, you will discover that the results are truly awesome — a wonderful tribute to this city and diocese named after the Blessed Sacrament.

Among the features, you will see: 1) a new and striking Cathedra or Bishop’s chair; 2) an awesome interior dome adorned with 16 Eucharistic scenes from Scripture and the symbol of the Holy Spirit hovering at its apex; 3) a 100-seat Eucharistic chapel/Presbyterium embellishing the east end, containing a 20-foot tall tabernacle tower and a 100-year old sanctuary lamp; 4) a traditional marble Baptismal font at the entrance which is exceptional in its beauty, with chapels for the Sacrament of Reconciliation at either side; 5) Two newly-embellished side chapels for private prayer and devotion, containing two magnificent 20-foot high murals of saints of the Americas and martyrs of the Church.

The Church’s architecture, art, and music are meant to speak of the beauty of God and the mysteries of faith. Our newly-restored Cathedral does this well. For us, for the broader community and for the tourists, the Cathedral is a powerful symbol of God’s presence, and of the transcendent dimensions of life, as well as a reminder to attend to one’s spiritual hungers and needs.

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The principal church of a Diocesan Bishop and of a Diocese is called “The Cathedral.” The phrase is an abbreviation, and is used here as an adjective and not as a noun. The full title of our principal church is The Cathedral Church of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

The “Cathedral Church,” in fact, means the Church of the Chair (Cathedra); the chair in question is the solemn seat from which the Diocesan Bishop formally proclaims and explains the Word of God, shepherds and guides that portion of the People of God entrusted to his care and, as “high priest” of the diocese, draws all the members of his flock into the “universal assembly of love,” at which he presides, and of which he is the bond of communion.

The Fathers of the Church have long insisted on the quasi-sacramental value of the Episcopal Chair, in so far as it symbolizes and effects, at one and the same time, true authority, that is, the charism to evoke growth in those it touches, and then to bind them all together in the loving bond of communion.

One of the earliest occurrences of this term is found in the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle, which was established at Rome around the end of the third century and is celebrated to this day throughout the Church on Feb. 22. The roots of the symbolism and theology of the Chair go deeper still. One recalls how Jesus enjoined the crowds and his disciples one day in Jerusalem concerning the Scribes and Pharisees: “The Scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses. You must therefore do, and observe what they tell you.” Or, again, we recall the several times we are told in the Gospels that Jesus sat down to teach, especially on solemn occasions, as on the day in the synagogue at Nazareth.

As ever, when we seek to understand the kernel of a particular theology, we turn to the texts of the Liturgy. On the Feast of the Chair of Peter, the entry verse quotes Luke 22:33: “ The Lord said to Simon Peter: I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, having once been converted, confirm your brethren.” The occupant of the Episcopal Chair enjoys a special charism, as a constituent member of the College of Bishops, successor to the College of the Apostles, to be the foundation stone, the touchstone of faith, to consolidate the faith of all the People of God entrusted to his care.

This is an awesome responsibility, one that I have been striving to fulfill now for 25 years. Humanly, I am way “over my head,” but I can count on the grace and action of Christ, for whom I serve as vicar. “My grace is enough for you; for in weakness (my) power reaches perfection.” (2 Cor 12:9)

I ask the support of your continued prayers that I may be worthy to share, in some small measure, in fulfilling the petition of the opening prayer of the Feast of the Chair of Peter: “Grant, we beseech you, Almighty God, that you will not allow any disturbance or disorder to shatter our communion, which you have consolidated upon the rock of the Apostolic confession of faith.”

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