Posted on 05/17/2010 4:46:51 PM PDT by markomalley
Ten days before his installation as Archbishop-in-Waiting of the continent's largest local church, José Gomez bade an emotional farewell to San Antonio yesterday before a packed-out, ticket-only crowd of 1,500.
The Big Pick's ties to the Alamo City longstanding -- his grandparents were married and his mother raised there, and having served as a priest there for over a decade before returning as archbishop in 2005 -- the paper of record reports that the next head of the 5 million-member LA church wept:
Gomez, 58, echoed what has been his consistent message for local Catholics: to rediscover their faith and let it drive them into a deeper spirituality, one with roots in San Antonio as a place where fervent missionaries toiled three centuries ago.In a farewell presser bookending the afternoon Mass, Gomez underscored the question of his succession at the helm of the San Antone church, voicing his hope that the next archbishop would "be able to speak Spanish."
Our lives are not our own, my brothers and sisters. We have been bought with a great price, he said in his characteristic softly accented English. What must we do to repay such love? Nothing less than giving our lives.
Emotional throughout the sermon, he paused to control tears and stumbled through a request for prayers to help him inherit larger duties, including transitioning from an archdiocese with about 700,000 members to one with 4.3 million and an international platform.
The audience responded with a prolonged, standing ovation one of several during the afternoon Mass....
[T]he entire audience stretched hands toward Gomez at one point to pray for a blessing on him while he knelt at the steps of the altar.
I pray that each of you live lives always in joy and enthusiasm that comes from knowing you are a child of God, Gomez said afterward. I will never forget you.
Zoiks, I can’t bear Rocco’s faux-breezy style ...
Best wishes to Archbishop Gomez. I often wish to be back in San Antonio to stay.
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Pope Names Latino Leader For L.A. Archdiocese [Member of Conservative Opus Dei Movement]/a>
Historic Appointment to LA Archdiocese
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El Tiempo Ha Venido -- Reports: (Archbishop) Gomez Up to LA (Catholic Caucus)
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Los Angeles Getting a New Archbishop (Part 1)
Los Angeles Getting a New Archbishop (Part 2)
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