MILWAUKEE — Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan began his second farewell Mass, March 29, by thanking the crowd at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist for their presence on the “nasty Wisconsin afternoon.”

“I couldn’t help but notice it was sunshine and 68 degrees in Manhattan,” he added, “but I’ll let that go,” which had the 800 in attendance filling the church with laughter.

His main message for those gathered at the 2 p.m. Mass was that just as parishioners want the pastor to show them the face of Jesus, the Catholics of southeastern Wisconsin have also shown him the face of Jesus since he became archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee on Aug. 28, 2002.

“The most touching compliment that you have given me and had given me and can give me is that I have tried to show you Jesus,” he said in his homily. “…and this afternoon, I look out with very loving, grateful recognition upon those faces – you – that have reflected to me the face of Jesus Christ.”

Archbishop Dolan’s homily at the Mass, meant to celebrate his appointment as archbishop of New York and bid him farewell, was full of the humor that has been a large part of his ministry. He referred to his most recent visit to the doctor.

While he joked about how the nurse had to sedate him to stand on the scale, there was a more serious point to the story. The nurse told him how she asked if Dr. Steve Dolan on their staff was related to the archbishop, only to have him pause before saying, “Yes, come to think of it, I am related to Archbishop Dolan, because I’m Catholic and so he is my father.”

A gentle “awww” came from those seated in the pews before Archbishop Dolan said, “Now, you don’t think that didn’t touch me? I could care less about what the scale said; I am so happy with that. And you don’t think that drove home to me that we are indeed a family – the supernatural family of the church – and you, my brothers and sisters of Christ, you have shown me the face of Christ in the church and, for that, I thank you.”

Barbara Crocco of St. Lucy Parish, Racine, came to the Mass with her mother, Esther Rule, also of St. Lucy Parish. Crocco said the first time she saw the archbishop was about five years ago and she choked up when she said, “He’s something that you have to see.”

Though terming his departure sad for Milwaukee, Crocco said she thinks Archbishop Dolan will do well in New York because he’s done so well in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

“Being Catholic as we are, this is our faith,” she said. “And we’re going to stay strong.”

Crocco’s mother laughed as she said she didn’t think the New York weather would be too different from Wisconsin’s because it’s cold there, too.

Randy and Kay Freeman of St. John Vianney Parish, Brookfield, decided a few weeks ago, as soon as they saw the announcement in the bulletin, that they would attend the Mass.

“We put it on a calendar to make sure we’d get to the 2 o’clock Mass here, and we’re so glad we did. He’s,” Kay said, tearing up as she added, “He’s wonderful.”

The Freemans have seen the archbishop on a few occasions as he’s been to Kay’s childhood parish, Holy Name of Jesus, Wilmot, where she and Randy were married and her parents are still members. Kay said that it’s a small world, because when she volunteered in the development office at Catholic Memorial High School for six years, where their kids attended school, she worked with Beth Dolan, Archbishop Dolan’s sister-in-law.

“I was there when the announcement came that he would be transferred here, and she said, you know, how lucky we were that he would be coming this way, not just for them as a family, but for all of us as the archdiocese,” she said. “Boy, was she right. We’ll miss him terribly. I don’t even like New York City that much, but I’m going to make a point to try and get out there.”

Though both will miss him, and plan to go to one of his Masses at St. Patrick Cathedral, they want to wish him “all the luck in the world.”

“We’re just privileged that we got to be a part of his life,” Kay said.

Tom and Fran Winkel of St. Anthony on the Lake Parish, Pewaukee, said they knew Archbishop Dolan would be chosen for New York. The couple traveled to Rome with the archbishop when he received his pallium in 2003.

“I think he’s renewed the spirit here and, you know, he got us moving forward,” Fran said. “So I think, and can only hope, that we’re going to continue to move in that same vein and that we would do it because we’re Catholics … and we should be able to do it with or without him now.”

Tom said the theme of Archbishop Dolan’s homily – that we want to see the face of Jesus – was and has been very fitting for one of the last he will give in Milwaukee.

“We saw Jesus in him all the time, so it was a great theme for his message today, perfect theme,” he said.

For Dennis Taylor, who often attends Mass at the cathedral and eats lunch there with Archbishop Dolan or retired district attorney E. Michael McCann most Sundays, said he’ll miss those moments.

“I wish him the best of luck in the world, and I hope he never forgets that I really love him,” Taylor said. “I don’t have no family, but he was my family.”

Though chairs sat empty along the right wall of the cathedral and near the back of the church, Joan Braun, parishioner and chair of the parish council at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, said she thought there was a good turnout.

“I think some of the chairs were not filled because the weather conditions that happened to prevail; it discouraged people from coming in because there’s a shortage of parking as it is surrounding the cathedral side,” Braun said. She also said that because the cathedral is a “destination parish,” meaning people drive long distances from all over the archdiocese, they may think twice about coming in after the snowy, cold weather that happened the night before.

“Recalling the huge number that had shown up at Holy Hill, they might also think, ‘Well, there really won’t be any room,’” Braun said of the nearly 1,400 people who attended the first farewell Mass at the Basilica of the Shrine of Our Lady Help of Christians on Sunday, March 22. “All things considered, I think there was a very good show up there today for the celebration, and kind of a sad day also, just to see our archbishop departing.”

Braun, who was touched by the charisma and “generous joyfulness that the archbishop shares with everyone,” as well as his ability to make each person he talks to feel like the most important in the world, said he will carry that gift with him for many years.

“There were a lot of things that we were looking forward to that will now have to wait and see what comes next, but we will also get courage and further faithfulness by watching how he leads the people of New York,” Braun said. “So, he will leave his mark.”

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