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Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published June 16, 2006

Detroit – As hundreds gathered at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament to celebrate a Mass marking Cardinal Adam Maida's 50th anniversary of priesthood, the cardinal offered a challenge to himself, those gathered and all people of good will:

"In a world overshadowed by much violence and daily assault on the dignity and mystery of the gift of life," the cardinal said in his homily, "as a Church, we need to make all things new as we engage in prayer and dialogue to advance the Kingdom of God."

Cardinal Maida and his predecessor, Cardinal Edmund C. Szoka, enter the cathedral.

Last week's jubilee Mass was co-celebrated by more than 200 priests, including Eastern Rite leaders, dozens of bishops and Cardinals Edmund C. Szoka, formerly of Detroit, Francis George of Chicago, Edward Egan of New York, Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., and Sean O'Malley of Boston.

The pews of the cathedral were filled, and the cathedral's choir, accompanied by trumpets, led the congregation in song.

Before the opening prayer, Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Earl Boyea, who organized the liturgy, read a letter from Pope Benedict XVI addressed to Cardinal Maida on his jubilee.

"Let this, our salutation, be for you an attestation of our joyful and congratulatory spirit," read the pope's letter, on behalf of all bishops and pastors.

During his homily, Cardinal Maida thanked the Lord for "the gift and mystery of 50 years of priestly ministry," and for filling his life with a loving family and a great many people who supported him in the dioceses of Pittsburgh and Green Bay, and in the Archdiocese of Detroit. He especially acknowledged Cardinal Szoka, his predecessor in Detroit, who now serves the Holy See as president of the Pontifical Council for the Vatican State.

The cardinal also spoke to the congregation about his episcopal motto, "To make all things new," taken from Revelation 21, which was the Mass's first reading.

Celebrating with Cardinal Adam Maida, second from right, for the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood are Sr. Joanna Adamczuk, VS; Fr. Thaddeus Maida, the cardinal's brother; Sr. Janina Stepien, VS; andSr. Kazimiera Znyk, VS.

As he often does when celebrating parish anniversaries across the Archdiocese of Detroit, Cardinal Maida took the occasion of his own anniversary to urge Catholics to recommit themselves to their vocations in life.

"As we reflect this day on the ministerial priesthood," he said, "I am hopeful every one of us will be renewed and strengthened in our own particular calling, confident that God is using us for His glory, the good of the Church and the spiritual renewal of the world."

The cardinal also reflected on the various parts of his own vocation, from being ordained by Bishop John Dearden in Pittsburgh, to being handed his high school diploma by Cardinal Mooney at St. Mary's Preparatory School, Orchard Lake, to being a canon lawyer, to being a bishop, then a cardinal, then electing a pope.

Cardinal Maida receives the gifts at the offertory as Msgr. John Kasza helps.

Through it all, he stressed, the greatest gift the priesthood has to offer is that of the Eucharist.

"Our service as priests and bishops not only flows from the Eucharist but is truly an extension of it," he said.

And the greatest gift any Catholic has to give, he added, is to use his gifts to make the Lord present on Earth.

"The most important lesson I have learned over this half-century is simply this: Every one of us has the gift and power of making all things new in Christ," he said. "We do so to the extent that we always focus on the fits and the needs of the whole Body of Christ, the Church."