Bishop-elect Scharfenberger at the NYS Capitol for Catholic Lobby Day, in March.
| For those not able to attend, there will be several other ways in which you may be able to enjoy the ordination and installation of Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger, to be held April 10 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany. Time Warner Cable News (Channel 9 for most Time Warner Cable subscribers) will broadcast the ceremony live, beginning at approximately 1:30 p.m. on April 10. Rev. Kenneth Doyle, chancellor for public information for the Albany Diocese, will provide commentary during the broadcast. EWTN also plans to carry the live broadcast. In addition, the ceremony may be viewed on the internet. There will be a link to the live streaming of the event on the diocesan website, www.rcda.org. Local Catholic radio station WOPG will carry the audio portion of the broadcast on 1460 AM, as well. For listeners in the western part of the Diocese, the WOPG 89.9-FM broadcast will be delayed, so listen for announcements on that station for the date and time. |
He came to my house one night, and we talked about many things including the pastor of the parish where I grew up. Interesting conversation.
He always had a hard time remembering my wife's first name, but always knew me. That, in itself, is interesting because my name is Steve (Stephen) while my wife is Stephanie (we don't call her Steve or Stevie). He saw me at least every two or three weeks because I have been a Eucharistic Minister at that church since the day it was created from the merger of two parishes.
My son, Kyle, was a Boy Scout. Father Pates presided over my son's Eagle Scout ceremony and delivered a homily at that ceremony that was as good as any and better than most. These days my son is a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy.
My wife bumped into him once at a post-Bishop ceremony event, and he remembered me and recalled my son by name. That will be a memory for me while my mind continues to work.
Anyway, the day he was made into a Bishop in the Archdiocese of St. Paul, I played hooky from work so I could sneak in and watch the ceremony. I could never remember half of the rites and rituals that went into it, but would encourage any of the faithful, if you ever have several hours to spare to go and watch a guy get made into a bishop. It's well worth the price of admission, which is free, by the way, unless you have to pay for parking.
It says right here I will never forget the way Bishop Pates treated my family and me. I wish him zip but success for the rest of his life.