Homily - 24 January 2010

The Third Sunday of the Year
Mass for the Election of a Bishop

Today, brothers and sisters, we gather as the Body of Christ, united under him who is our eternal high priest, our shepherd and head, to implore the Lord for the gift of a new Bishop.

We do not know who our next Bishop will be, nor do we know when the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI will see fit to appoint him. Even so, we pray with the Lord Jesus that the man to be chosen will be consecrated in the truth, even as were the Apostles (see John 17:17).

To consecrate a person or an object is to set him or it apart for sacred use, for the worship of Almighty God. In the case of a deacon, priest or Bishop it is the Lord who sets the man aside by calling him to his service “to bring glad tidings to the lowly” and “to announce a year of favor from the LORD” (Isaiah 61:1, 2).

The task of a Bishop is a great challenge and for this reason, “no one takes this honor upon himself but only when called by God, just as Aaron was” (Hebrews 5:4). The Bishop is to dedicate himself to the proclamation of the Gospel, to the sanctification of his flock, and to the governance – both spiritual and temporal – of the local Church entrusted to him. But because this duty comes from Christ, for the man who loves God and neighbor it is a yoke that is easy and a burden that is light (see Matthew 11:30).

As we pray today for “the joy of receiving a shepherd who will be an example of goodness to [his] people and will fill our hearts and minds with the trust of the gospel,” we pray in a particular way not simply for this gift, but for the Lord’s chosen one (see Psalm 89:5).

Let us pray that the hand of the Lord may be always with him and that his arm will always make him strong so that he will boldly proclaim the faith of the Jesus Christ (see Psalm 89:22). Strengthened by the Lord himself, may our new Bishop never back down for fear of the wolves, but announce the Gospel with zeal in all circumstances.

Let us pray that faithfulness and mercy of the Lord also rest upon him, that he will “deal patiently with the ignorant and erring” (see Psalm 89:25; Hebrews 5:3). When we stumble and fall, may he raise us up with a father’s love, and when we do not fully understand his vision may he lead us with a shepherd’s care.

Let us pray that he will be a man of great reverence and devotion, that the Lord will hear and answer the many prayers he will raise on our behalf (see Hebrews 5:7).

Let us pray, too, for His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI as he chooses the man who will be our Bishop. Guided by the light of the Holy Spirit, may he choose a man who will be equipped with all of the necessary gifts and graces to lead us closer to Jesus Christ and to help us grow in holiness, in faith, in hope and in love.

Finally, brothers and sisters, let us pray for ourselves as well, that we will receive our new Bishop with joy and greet him as we would greet one of the Apostles themselves, whose successor he will be. Let us pray that we will follow him in faith be united in him and under his care.

It is the Bishop who, in a particular way, is the source of unity for the local Church for he is sent out into the world by Christ himself to bring salvation through his ministry and preaching.

Saint Ignatius of Antioch, who was martyred in Rome about the 107 under the reign of the Emperor Trajan, spoke eloquently about the essential role of the Bishop for the Church. To the Church in Tralles, he wrote, “do nothing apart from the bishop.” In another place he wrote, “It was the Spirit that proclaimed these words: Apart from the bishop let nothing be done.” He testified to the presence of the threefold ministry of Bishops, priests and deacons from the earliest days of the Church when he wrote:

In the same way all should respect the deacons as they would Jesus Christ, just as they respect the bishop as representing God the Father and the priests as the council of God and the college of the Apostles. Apart from these there is nothing that can be called a Church.

We see, then, that we need the ministry of a Bishop to fully be the Church.

There is one beautiful image of the Bishop that I wish to mention. He referred to the Bishop of Philadelphia as a man who “has been attuned to the commandments like a harp with its strings.” To the Ephesians he wrote:

For your priests, who are worthy of the name and worthy of God, like the strings of a lyre, are in harmony with the bishop. Hence it is in the harmony of your minds and hearts Jesus Christ is hymned. Make of yourselves a choir, so that with one voice and one mind, taking the key note of God, you may sing in unison with one voice through Jesus Christ to the Father, and He may hear you and recognize you, in your good works, as members of His Son. It is good for you, therefore, to be in perfect unity that you may at all times be partakers of God.

United in this way around the Bishop, “for ever [we] will sing the goodness of the Lord” (Psalm 89:2). As we sing together this new song to the Lord, the hymn that is Jesus Christ, the world will come to believe that he was sent by the Father and will come to know his love (see John 17:23).

When the Holy Father sends a new Bishop to us, let us, then, heed the words of Saint Ignatius: “Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.” Amen!