Americans sometimes have very unrealistic expectations. We want everything instantly. Catholics are part of that impatient crowd too. We want lots of Masses and we want them in an hour or less. And if we travel, there better be an app for local Mass times.

We live in the days when Minute Rice takes 60 seconds too long.

And now we have a new bishop. Everyone wants to know what will happen next.

Time to slow down, get real, and enjoy.

Remember, we belong to a church that took 400 years to revise its Catechism. Our faith is something to savor and enjoy. Our Catholicism is deeply rooted in profound and meaningful tradition, and you can’t enjoy it if you buzz through it on the Concorde. You benefit from it better on a slow moving boat.

It’s time to allow Bishop-elect Malloy the honor and ceremony of officially becoming our bishop and taking canonical possession of our diocese. That process will begin on Sunday, May 13 at Solemn vespers at the Cathedral of St. Peter — an evening of prayer where the Bishop-elect takes canonical possession of the diocese in anticipation of his ordination and installation that will take place the next day, Monday, May 14.

That Monday, hundreds of local dignitaries, priests, deacons, religious sisters and brothers, bishops and cardinals will join with thousands of witnesses to carry out the wishes of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, by conferring the ancient rite of ordination of a bishop for our diocese. It will be history in the making.

This stuff can’t be rushed and shouldn’t.

Those of us involved with the planning of the ordination and installation can tell you we have been moving at a frantic pace to accomplish everything that needs to be accomplished in a short period of time. We have moved fast so you don’t have to. Our efforts of expeditiousness we hope will result in a ceremony that all will learn from, share in, and rejoice in.

If you have been busy wondering what the new bishop will be like … make plans to come see for yourself. Join the party. Come savor and enjoy the beauty and majesty of our faith and be part of your own history. Share a first Eucharist with our new shepherd.

If you can’t join the ceremony on Monday, May 14, it will be televised live on WREX-TV, Channel 13 in Rockford. It also will be available live on the diocesan website at http://www.rockforddiocese.org. You can follow the the ceremony at The Diocese of Rockford on Facebook or on twitter at hashtag #malloyordination. And your patience will pay off when you receive your copy of the special May 18 issue of The Observer. In that issue you will get all the details from the ceremony, be the first to read a personal interview with Bishop Malloy and his family, view Malloy family pictures, find out what his coat of arms represents and read all the greetings from Illinois bishops and Cardinal George.

In the meantime if you have questions you can click on the Frequently Asked Question on the diocesan website or email me at pwiegert@rockforddiocese.org.

If you want tickets sign up at your parish as soon as possible or send a request to dbeatty@rockforddiocese.org.

If you are not able to attend, be patient, you can still grab the broadcast at a later date and you can pray for Bishop-Elect Malloy on his special day. When the new bishop comes around to your parish, extend to him the joy of your hospitality. Read The Observer and take the time to get to know him and let him get to know you. Express to him in prayer and worship at your parish that you are willing to serve him and be served by him. Together we can take the time to extend our hands in welcome and not in want.

Included in Bishop-elect Malloy’s first words to us in the Rockford Diocese were, “I love the Church and I want you to love it with me.” Let those be our instructions for the days ahead.

And one more thing … take some time to share some thanks. For the past 18 years our shepherd, The Most Rev. Thomas G. Doran, has been a good and faithful servant to us and our God. Be thankful for the chapter he has written in our history here on this piece of earth, especially now, as we wait in joyful hope for the turning of the page.