Saturday

Rose in time to have breakfast, repack, check out, and drive about five miles to the venue of the consecration and a 10am meeting of the bishops present to sign and seal the certificate (two, actually--one for the new bishop and one for the archives), then have and hour's worth of plenary conversation about whatever is on anyone's mind. The subject du jour seemed to be the various proposals that are floating around concerning restructuring the governance of the church. At about 11:45 we were served lunch, and the conversation continued informally as we moved on the direction of getting vested for the 1pm start time for the liturgy. The site of the event was the First Baptist Church of Orlando, which occupies a mammoth complex centered around a worship space that seats 5000. (Given that bit of data, I would estimate that there were about 3000 in the room.) The look of the place reminded me a great deal of where I was consecrated a year ago, so I was able to reconnect with that very blessed occasion in my own life. The reception was at All Saints, Winter Park, about a 20 minute drive back through downtown Orlando and north a bit. Now I'm at a different hotel downtown, having met up with my mother and brother, who traveled here from Fort Myers. Tomorrw: Disneyworld with them! (after the early Mass at the cathedral, of course). Monday is a travel day, so this space will go dark until Tuesday night.

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