Cardinal Arinze at the Cathedral

It looks like Cardinal Francis Arinze, himself a Nigerian native, will be celebrating a mass for the Igbo Nigerian community in Los Angeles at the new Los Angeles Cathedral on July 20th at 3pm. I wish I could get down to the Cathedral for the mass, but I don't think I will be able to. They will also be dedicating a chapel to Bl. Michael Iwene Tansi at St. Cecilia's Catholic Church in Los Angeles the day before. Back in 1998, I interned at the Chancery of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and got to spend time with a lot of priests and seminarians involved with the Missions office. In particular, I lived with a Nigerian seminarian who introduced me to the customs of the Igbo community there. I remember most fondly the Igbo Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Cecilia's he invited me to, which was one of the most memorable experiences I have ever had. Following that mass, there was a celebration. At that time, I was also blessed to sit next to a Claretian missionary from Nigeria who took time to explain to me the significance of everything that was done.