Faith

A Jubilee volunteer returns crosses to the beginning of the pilgrimage path after groups of the faithful process to the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Feb. 19, 2025. CNS photo/Pablo Esparza

Formed in Christ

Friday, June 20, 2025Faith

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... in the July 18 installment of this column, we will begin a "pilgrimage through the Mass."

With all the headlines the church has been making, much of it pleasantly positive and even complimentary, especially regarding the nascent papacy of Pope Leo XIV, we might have forgotten, though the Holy Father certainly has not, that we are still in the midst of a Holy Year. And, since the beginning of the church, we have been and remain "Pilgrims of Hope.

Camino
For the past several weeks, we have been accompanying a pilgrim, Mark T. Valley, on his second Camino to Compostela. Even if we never get to walk the Camino on any of its routes, his reflections gave us a sense of being on the way.
His own personal journey reminded us that pilgrims never make a pilgrimage alone. It is always a "group effort," and this can be whether the pilgrims are well-known to each other or complete strangers. The "common goal" or point of the pilgrimage really serves as the unifying factor and, in some ways, even strangers, who speak different languages or hail from different corners of our planet and have very different customs, can become one, can draw inspiration and support from each other, and reach the same goal maybe at different times or different speeds.

Pallium

Next week, there will be a preview of an upcoming pilgrimage to Rome. This will be made by Archbishop Richard G. Henning as he goes to the Eternal City along with seven other recently named metropolitan archbishops from the U.S. and 45 others from other nations across the globe. The U.S. leads this year's list with its eight new metropolitans. Of the 53 newly appointed metropolitans, 49 were named by the late Pope Francis and four by Pope Leo XIV.
The seven other U.S. metropolitans (in order of their receiving the pallium) are:
Robert Walter Cardinal McElroy of Washington, Jeffrey Scott Grob of Milwaukee, Joe Steve Vasquez of Galveston-Houston, Edward Joseph Weisenburger of Detroit, Robert Gerald Casey of Cincinnati, Michael George McGovern of Omaha, and William Shawn McKnight of Kansas City, Kansas. All eight of these were named by the late Pope Francis since June 30, 2024. Three of them were once priests of the Archdiocese of Chicago -- Archbishops Casey, Grob, and McGovern.
Our own archbishop had been at the top of the American list until Cardinal McElroy was named to Washington. Because he is cardinal, he jumps to the top of the list, even though he was named to Washington months after Archbishop Henning was installed in Boston.
These episcopal pilgrims will be concelebrating Mass with Pope Leo XIV at St. Peter's Basilica on June 29, the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, and will be receiving the pallium from the pope. In this first "Pallium Mass" celebrated by the new pope, he has decided to return to the previous practice instituted by Pope St. John Paul II of both blessing the pallia and personally placing it on the shoulders of each of the new metropolitan archbishops.
Next week's column will provide an explanation of the meaning of the pallium and its significance as a liturgical vestment and the principal symbol of a metropolitan archbishop.

Upcoming
Subscribers and regular readers are aware that The Pilot has an annual two-week hiatus at the beginning of July. Our return in mid-month seemed a logical place to begin a new pilgrimage in this column. This series will take up multiple weeks, probably through the end of the calendar year.
So, in the July 18 installment of this column, we will begin a "pilgrimage through the Mass." As with any pilgrimage, we'll begin with the unseen preparations, then set out through the four parts of the Mass -- the Introductory Rites, the Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and the Concluding Rites.
The principal "guidebooks" will be the Roman Missal, the Lectionary for Mass, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, and the Ceremonial of Bishops. Other official liturgical sources will also be cited.
Since there are various forms for celebrating Mass, as can be seen in the current Roman Missal, the one most familiar to readers is "Mass with a Deacon," as the Missal calls it, and the one which most resembles the Mass we celebrate each Sunday.
Throughout the series, or at any time, feel free to send along questions or observations to rmogrady@PilotCatholicNews.com.