In 1962, John Steinbeck wrote a small book he entitled “Travels with Charley, in Search of America.” Steinbeck’s description of Montana, penned over 40 years ago, is tender, touching, and true. His words capture exactly what I am feeling in my heart as I stand before you today. He writes, “I am in love with Montana. For other states, I have admiration and respect, recognition, even some affection. But with Montana it is love.”
How grateful I am to the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, for offering me this opportunity to return to the place of my youth, to a people I love so dearly, and to the Church where my own vocation to the priesthood was born. Poet Robert Frost once opined that “home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” I have always wondered about the accuracy of Frost’s observation. But I do not doubt the genuine warmth and welcome you have extended to me, a native son who has finally returned home after a long journey of 32 years.
In 1962, my siblings and I attended school here at Saint Helena’s own elementary school. Like so many of yours, our upbringing was immersed in Catholic piety, steeped in Catholic culture, and formed by the example of loving Catholic parents. In Anaconda, Harlem, Butte and Helena, the parish was the center of our known universe. The Baltimore Catechism was the gold standard of our faith formation. Our extended family was the seedbed of our Catholic faith, where we learned to revere our priests and sisters, and cherish the Church with all of our hearts. It was a solid and sturdy foundation, which served well – well that is, until a great and unexpected sadness came into my life.
It was here, in this Cathedral parish, that my own faith in Christ was severely shaken to the core. It was here, in Helena, Montana, that my childlike confidence in God was tested to the limits of a youth’s endurance. It was here, while attending Cathedral school, I experienced a crisis of faith that changed my life and altered the course of my Catholic faith forever. As I return to this diocese, and to this Cathedral, my mind is flooded with those memories of yesteryear.
On Saturday morning, April 5, 1962, my dad awakened me and my brother with stunning and surreal news. The tone of his voice indicated that something was seriously amiss. It was a message too difficult for a child to absorb. Dad told me that my friend and classmate, so full of life and promise, a fellow seventh-grader, Loren Yuhas, had just lost his life in a tragic accident, struck and killed as he crossed a busy intersection. Suddenly, the neat, predictable, orderly faith of our childhood spun hopelessly out of control. Tearful nights and troubled days followed this numbing news. Disbelief and anger burst on the scene like unfamiliar intruders, destroying the calm and order of an insulated life.
Alfred North Whitehead once wrote that the truest definition of youth is a “life untouched by tragedy.” In the springtime of that year, in this Cathedral Parish, my life, and that of my classmates, changed forever. In a moment’s notice, the simple carefree Montana youth we had once known was gone forever.
The contemporary theologian, Richard Gaillardetz, once observed: “God is revealed in questions that elude answers and in human experience that challenges the limits of our faith.” To be sure, the death of a childhood friend undermined my childhood confidence in the Lord, who had always protected us from danger and harm. In those difficult days, I did not grasp the mysterious hand of God ever at play. Nor could I see the light of Providence dawning in the darkness.
Famed physician Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross wrote, “If we could see all things, even tragedy, as blessings in disguise, we would find the best way to nourish the soul.” Only after weeks turned into months, and months turned into years, did I realize that this childhood tragedy turned out to be one of the most significant events – a watershed event – in the journey of my faith.
Here, in this Cathedral Parish, the beginnings of a new relationship, a profound encounter with Christ and the Church, began to emerge. Here, at Saint Helena Cathedral, I began, in the words of Paul, “to put away the things of a child,” and “see no longer with physical” eyes alone, but rather “with the eyes of the heart.” The late Cardinal Nguyen van Tuan, Cardinal of Vietnam, addressed the youth and young adults of his nation, to prepare them for the unexpected swerves and turns of life. “As you travel down the road of hope, you will need a light to show you the way. That light was given to you by the Church on the day of your Baptism. His name is Jesus Christ.”
The readings we proclaim today contain the reason why we are a community of hope and promise. “Praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us new birth, a birth unto hope, which draws its life from the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A birth unto hope! An imperishable inheritance, incapable of fading or defilement!”
The great Bangladeshi poet Tagore captures poetically the message contained in the first book of Peter. “Death is not extinguishing the light. It is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.” Indeed, Christ is our hope. Christ is our light – a light no darkness can ever extinguish.
In October 2003, Pope John Paul II addressed the bishops of the world, and captured the essence of the ministry of bishop. “It is the task of every bishop,” he wrote, “to proclaim hope to the world, a hope based on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” The bishop is to be “a prophet, witness, and servant of hope.” Every aspect of the bishop’s life and ministry is to be permeated by a theology of hope. His threefold ministry of teaching, of pastoral governance, and sanctification, is to radiate a vision of hope that leads others to faith in Christ and greater love for the Church. This is the vision I share with you today – a vision of hope that flows from the Second Vatican Council and will guide our life together in the Lord.
The beginning point of a bishop’s teaching ministry is a personal encounter with the living Lord and a burning desire to share Christ’s life and love with all he meets. The bishop is to be a witness to the Resurrection, and a herald of hope to the community he is ordained to serve.
But before he can be teacher, he is also a student, one who shares with all the faithful a common vocation to holiness and integrity of life. That is why Saint Augustine counsels the bishop is “a fellow disciple in the school of the living God.” In his ministry as teacher, he is to work closely with the ordained, who share intimately in his teaching and preaching office. He is to also awaken in the laity an awareness of their vocation to bring others to Christ by the word and example of their lives. That is why Pope Paul VI stated emphatically, “The Church needs witnesses more than teachers.”
As teachers, we hand on what we have first received ourselves – the gospel of Jesus Christ, crucified and raised from the dead. We must carefully and courageously hand on what does not belong to us, a message that belongs to the patrimony of the Church. In a word, we must faithfully re-present the gospel of Christ and teach with clarity and conviction, encouraging, cultivating, admonishing when necessary, always ensuring that the unity and integrity of the faith are handed on to the people in season and out of season.
We carry out this mission of teaching and preaching by word, most certainly, but also by the witness of our way of life. In this regard, I am already aware of my own shortcomings, and my total reliance on the grace of God. Any personal failings I may overlook will quickly be pointed out by members of my family, some of whom have distressingly long memories.
So too, the bishop is to be a patient listener, attending with care to the voices and concerns of his people. In the words of the Second Vatican Council, he is to “read the signs of the times,” and make the joys and sorrows of the people his own. He is to proclaim a sacramental vision of life, a conviction that God knows each of us by name, and loves us with an everlasting love. He is to ensure that every person has a cherished place in the heart of the Church, especially the small, the marginal, the poor. He is to remind himself and others of Saint Augustine’s admonition, especially when dealing with difficult persons and situations – that is, “Dig deeply enough into the heart of any person, there you will find something that is divine.”
The second ministry of the bishop – pastoral governance – is rooted in the powerful gospel image contained in today’s gospel, of Christ, who “poured water into the basin, and washed the feet of his disciples.” This image of bishop is echoed in the Rite of Episcopal Ordination: “The title of Bishop is one of service, not of honor...” patterned after the One who came not to be served but to serve.
The Second Vatican Council fathers wisely wrote, “Pastors know that they were not meant by Christ to shoulder alone.” The local bishop is to provide for the “holy ordering” of the local Church. Shared responsibility is a characteristic of sound pastoral governance. Collaborative ministry among the clergy, religious, and the laity is sine qua non, each person participating in the mission of the Church according to their particular vocation.
The wisdom and perspective of the priests in the diocese is a source of wisdom and an indispensable resource for the bishop. I will rely heavily upon your counsel as trusted coworkers, brothers and friends. So too, the experience and perspective of the religious and laity available must be fully utilized as we address together the complex and challenging issues of our time.
In this day and age, the ministry of pastoral governance is increasingly more challenging. In every community, I know full well that differences and difficulties will inevitably arise. These situations, through God’s grace, are opportunities for dialogue and reconciliation, rather than occasions for estrangement or division or hurt. In 1616, Peter of Maiterland counseled, “In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, freedom, in all things, charity.”
The bishop is called to be the symbol of unity in the local Church. He is also called to be the guarantor of diversity as he calls forth the multiplicity of God’s gifts in service to the Church. In his governance of the diocese, the bishop is not to mistake uniformity for unity. Nor does the local bishop allow the local Church to become self-enclosed. He is to be a bridge to the Universal Church, a visible link to the See of Peter. I have always loved Cardinal Ratzinger’s sage observation – “He opens up the local Church to the Universal Church, he also introduces into the Universal Church the particular voice of his diocese, its particular charisms, assets, and afflictions.”
Both Church and society are confronted with complex problems that defy simple answers and eschew shortsighted solutions. Complex issues abound: We are facing the harsh realities of terrorism and war, racial conflict and religious hatreds, child abuse in Church and society, physician assisted suicide, the plight of the unborn, affordable housing, health care for the elderly and working poor, the death penalty, immigration and resettlement, minimum wage, child care, the question of undocumented workers, and Third World debt. Add to this mix the issue of Catholic politicians who publicly dissent from Catholic teaching.
In addressing these concerns, the Church already has a rich body of social and moral teaching and a code of canon law to help us frame the right questions and guide the Church through difficult days. We do well to prefer persuasion above fiat, dialogue over dictate, due process always, and canonical censures as medicinal remedies of last resort.
Clearly, the ministries of teaching and of governance always go hand in hand. In a word, bishops have a special obligation to cultivate a Catholic faithful enlightened by the gospel and to call forth leaders emboldened by the Church’s teaching. The Catholic community has the special obligation to raise up leaders willing to address the complex and vexing issues of the day through the light of the gospel, from the courage of their conviction, and from the perspective of Catholic social and moral teaching.
A few years ago, a couple wrote Ann Landers, saying, “We have five children, two are adopted, but we can’t remember which two.” The third ministry of the bishop, that of sanctification, is rooted in baptism and strengthened by the sacraments. Baptism is the gateway to the spiritual life. Through baptism, you and I have become adopted daughters and sons of the living God. Our membership in the Lord’s household gives us a unique and wonderful relationship with God and communion with one another.
Oft quoted is Saint Augustine, who said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee, 0 Lord.” The late Father Henry Nouwen reversed the order of Augustine’s adage, saying, “No, God’s heart is restless until we rest in God.”
Eucharist is our communion with the living God, and “source and summit of the life of the Church.” Our task as bishops, priests, is to ensure that the Eucharist is the center of our parish communities, and that the sacraments and the Word of God form and fashion all we are as a Catholic people.
The Catholic Church sees special connections between Eucharist and compassion, discipleship and justice, sacrament and service, love of God and love of neighbor. Our faith in Christ gives us a new and beautiful vision of the human person, and a special solidarity with the little ones of the kingdom, and in the words of Leo XIII, “a preferential option for the poor.” Dorothy Day said, “The Lord made heaven hinge on the way we treat the poor.”
Finally, the Catholic Faith we profess and celebrate is always missionary in spirit, always invitational and outward looking. All of us, ordained and laity alike, share in the responsibility to lead others to Christ, invite them into the life of our community, which is one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic.
In June, I will travel with the bishops of Region XII to Rome, where I will meet personally with our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. At that time, I will express to him my profound thanks for giving me the opportunity to serve you, the people of the Church of Helena. Today, in anticipation of that meeting, I want to gratefully acknowledge the presence of our Holy Father’s personal representative, His Excellency, Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo. Archbishop Montalvo symbolizes the Holy Father’s solidarity with and pastoral care for the Church of Helena.
I will work tirelessly to live up to the Office of Bishop entrusted to me. I promise to serve you faithfully, and love you as a shepherd, a brother, and friend. My heart is filled with joy and enthusiasm as we begin this journey of faith together. As always, we will rely on the Lord of All Hopefulness, Lord of All Joy. Through His Grace and His guidance, we can be assured that ours is a future filled with Hope!
Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 20, No. 6, June 18, 2004.