Pastor's Corner, April 26, 2015

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

On April 29, the day the universal Church celebrates the feast of St. Catharine of Siena, we will celebrate the anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral Church. In our church, this day is celebrated as a solemnity, the highest form of liturgical celebration.

We are blessed to be not only a parish but also a Cathedral, meaning that our church has the privilege to serve the Diocese of Allentown as the “seat” of the bishop and the Church from which he exercises his triple mission of governing, teaching and sanctifying the entire diocese in the name of Christ and as the chief shepherd of the local Church.

The Directory for the Pastoral Ministry of Bishops speaks of the importance of the Cathedral Church. It says, “It is here that diocesan life finds its fullest expression and it is here that the most sublime and sacred act of the Bishop’s munus sanctificandi [sanctifying function] is accomplished” (155).

The Cathedral is considered the “mother” church of all the other churches in the diocese. Thus, the Cathedral is a reminder to everyone of the “catholicity” of the Church of Christ insofar as it serves as a sign of the union that all priests, religious, and laity have with the bishop of the Diocese.

In Christ,

Msgr. Baker