Edward Cardinal Egan celebrated his final Easter Mass as New York’s archbishop yesterday, urging parishioners to remember the holiday’s message of hope as they struggle with the ailing economy.
Addressing a packed St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the 77-year-old Egan said he has never known a time when the weight of the world’s problems has been so heavy. He said he has met many people who have lost jobs, homes or pensions.
“The answer, my dear friends, is the Easter answer,” the cardinal said.
“This is not all that there is to life. We are here for a passing moment of eternity, and we are destined to live forever in the presence and the embrace of a loving creator and savior. And this is what Easter is all about.”
“Life can appear unfair and pointless,” he added, “but Easter gives meaning to the reality of life.”
After spending Palm Sunday in St. Vincent’s Hospital with what he described as a severe gastrointestinal virus, Egan said that to miss Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday would be “a heavy cross to bear.”
He retires Wednesday after nine years of leading a critical US post in the Roman Catholic Church, one that serves 2.5 million people in the Big Apple and its northern suburbs.
Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan will replace him.
“I’ve fallen in love with New York,” Egan said.
The cardinal called on the faithful to pray for our soldiers in Iraq and for the Italian quake victims. “We pray to have God console them,” he said.
The faithful said the service was inspiring.
“The Mass was fabulous. It was a very powerful service,” said Heather DeGrandis, 21, a student from The Bronx.
“It gave me goose bumps,” agreed her mother, Samantha, 56, who lives in Cleveland.
Dolan flew to the Big Apple after delivering his last Easter Sunday Mass in Milwaukee.
He said he plans to pray at Ground Zero soon after he’s installed.
Dolan bid farewell to his flock, saying, “I will miss you all very much. I will remain grateful to you.”