Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, New York–As noted here earlier, this morning, the Vatican announced that Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee would be replacing the retiring Cardinal Edward Egan in New York. As Dolan made his first appearance since the news broke, at 8:00 Mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, Timothy was hard to escape.

Many of the faithful and news media, of course, were here to get their first look at Manhattan’s newcomer, Timothy. But in the background were words from the first book of Timothy, from today’s Liturgy of the Hours, which both Cardinal Egan and Archbishop Dolan would have prayed this morning: “The love of money is the root of all evil, and some men in their greed have brought upon themselves many bitter sorrows.”

That responsorial prayer begins though with hope from Ecclesiastes: “God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to the man who pleases him, but to the sinner, he gives a weary heart and a foolish eagerness to heap together riches.”

The appropriateness of the prayer was not lost on the homilist, the current cardinal. Egan, echoing the gospel of the day, prayed that in the midst of economic and other sorrows– when “one can feel that somehow the Lord is not with us”–there would belief, not unbelief. He ended the sermon praying that the Lord “strengthen our belief” and guard us so “that we never fall into unbelief.” In an enthusiastic celebration, Egan reminded congregants and assured Dolan that Catholics of the archdiocese not only warmly welcome him but will be praying for him as he shepherds New Yorkers toward the hope that comes from that belief.

Egan included an obligatory joke among New York bishops about the warmness of the press at the start of the Mass.

For his part, Dolan rarely unclasped his hands in prayer during much of the Mass. The first public words he spoke here were lines of the Eucharistic Prayer during the Consecration. If the joy with which he concelebrated Mass and distributed Holy Communion this morning is any indication, he’s at home already. There is, after all, a Presence very familiar to him here.