On the anniversary of his episcopal ordination, St. Augustine once preached, “I am fearful of what I am for you, but I draw strength from what I am with you. For you I am a bishop, and with you I am a Christian. The former designates an office received, the latter the foundation of salvation.” I note the reference from St. Augustine on the occasion of my 20th anniversary as a bishop. On December 17, 2016, I will have been ordained as a bishop for twenty years. That I have spent twenty year serving as a bishop yet remains a mystery to me. It is not a role that I ever sought. Nor did I ever think that I one day would be considered to serve as a bishop. I was quite content to be a parish priest and had envisioned that I would remain a pastor until such a day when I would retire from active ministry. But, as the adage goes, “If you want to make God laugh, tell God your plans!”
The copy of the quote from St. Augustine I mentioned was given to me as a gift on the day of my ordination. It was enclosed within a simple wooden frame. I refer to it occasionally. It reminds me that even though I may be a bishop, I am but one among many other Christians. I have a definite role within the Body of Christ as a bishop, but the baptismal life we share in Christ is the foundation reality and has far greater importance.
Being a bishop provides a number of perks. I don’t really expect them and perks can actually be a danger. And there is a level of deference that I’ve learned is given to men who are bishops. I often wish that people would remember that bishops are just like any other priest. They just happen to be bishops.
Being a bishop carries a number of significant burdens and responsibilities. He is an authority figure for his diocese, but not in an authoritarian way, and as one who is to author life. A bishop accomplishes his responsibilities best when he shares them with others, especially the priests. And a bishop should try to be close to those whom he leads and serves. As Pope Francis has said more than once, “Shepherds need to smell like the sheep.”
What are these responsibilities of a bishop? A bishop is a priest who possesses the fullness of Holy Orders. He has three primary ministerial responsibilities: governance (administration); teaching; and sanctification. This threefold ministerial responsibility charges him to do whatever he can to bring people to Christ as well as support the spiritual and pastoral live of the members of the Church. In this light, my responsibility as bishop is: 1) to provide people in Eastern Montana with a vision of the kingdom of God (heaven); 2) to inform all people that they have a realistic possibility of getting to heaven; 3) to announce that there is a concrete pathway to get to heaven.
Providing people a vision of the kingdom of God (ultimately heaven) is more than helpful. The Book of Revelation provides a poetic image of a great multitude of angels and saints singing Alleluia to the Lamb of God as they are gathered around him. Revelation presents us with a vision of new heavens and a new earth in which the Lamb will dwell with his people and “…they shall be his people and he shall be their God who is always with them. He shall wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain…” (Rev. 21: 3-4). Ultimately, the vision set forth by Jesus is life within a Communion of Saint. As I often say, this is the meaning and purpose of human existence and the reason why God created us and all other people.
The second responsibility is to assure people that they are included in God’s vision. As has been said, “Every saint has a past, but every sinner has a future.” It is a fundamental teaching of Scripture that each of us has sinned and in need of redemption. Even though we may be sinners, even the worst of sinners, Christ came to save all people from sin and death. A common quote from John’s Gospel affirms that, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life” (John 3:16).
I believe there are two basic reasons why people have trouble accepting the salvation that is offered to them by God through his Christ. One is due to a terrible image some people have of God. There are too many who perceive God more as a tyrant than a loving Father. While God is all just and will call us to account for our lives, God’s justice fundamentally is mercy. The consistent image present by the Scriptures is that of a loving Father (and sometimes a loving Mother) who wants nothing less than for his children to know the joy of the kingdom. This is a consistent teaching of Jesus (NB: the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke’s Gospel). I believe a more fundamental reason why some people have difficulty accepting salvation is that they think their sins are greater than God’s ability to forgive their sins. Again, the Scriptures are quite clear that God willingly and passionately desires to forgive our sins, even the worst of them. We just have to allow him to do so.
Thirdly, the Lord has provided us a clear path and directions on how to get to heaven. The path is the cross. Jesus clearly taught that if anyone wants to be his disciple, they have to pick up their own cross. To pick up one’s own cross does not mean embracing suffering for the sake of suffering. There is nothing particularly holy in wanting to suffer. To pick up the cross means to embrace fidelity to the Gospel even if suffering is a part of this. This may require fidelity in the midst of a terrible illness or an injury within the context of the vision the Gospel offers. It certainly demands turning away from sinful behavior even though it will cause great difficulty.
The Gospel really doesn’t allow for “cheap grace.” Coming straight from the mouth of Jesus proclaims: “This is the time of fulfillment. The reign of God is at hand! Reform your lives and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15). This reign (kingdom) of God of which Jesus speaks is not a place, but a way of life in which Christ rules our thoughts, words and deeds. It is a reality that begins here as we respond to Jesus’ invitation. When we do respond to his invitation, we begin to pattern our day-to-day activities on the life set forth by Jesus. The paradox of it all is that it is through the cross that we find our way to heaven. It is through our willingness to pick up our cross that we are set free enough to embrace the life that Christ desires to share with us.
Please help us continue
