Posts Tagged ‘Pope Benedict XVI’

Photo from L'Oservatore Romano, with permission

 I was taken by this photo of the final minutes of Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy.  Pope Benedict XVI along with the Prefect of the Papal Household, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, leave public view after the Pope’s brief appearance on the balcony of Castle Gandolfo. 

Thank you, Pope-emeritus, for you fidelity and loving term as our Shepherd in Chief.

Now, five days into the General Congregation meetings of the College of Cardinals, all 115 of the Cardinal Electors are in Rome.  Preparations are well underway to ready the Sistine Chapel for the Conclave.  The Cardinals are now fulfilling perhaps their most important role, prayerfully preparing to elect the next successor to St. Peter.

UPDATE:  The date for the Conclave is now set for Tuesday, March 12.  The Cardinals will gather for a concelebrated Mass (For the Election of the Roman Pontiff) midmorning.  Later that afternoon, they will process into the Sistine Chapel to the chanting of the Litany of the Saints, and the Conclave will begin for the election of a new Pope.

Presently, there are 153 Cardinals gathered for the General Congregation Meetings.  During this past week, during these Congregation Meetings, the Cardinals are hearing reports on the state of the Church, and provided opportunities to speak and ask clarifying questions.  They are discerning together what qualities they are looking for in the next Pope.  These are also significant days for them to foster a true sense of unity among themselves as they get to know one another.  Once the Dean of the Cardinals, Cardinal Sodano, feels that their deliberations have matured to the point they are ready to enter into Conclave, a date will be set for the all important election process to begin.

 Now it is time for all of us to do our part; pray.  Let us fervently pray as the Universal Church anticipates this historic Conclave.  Along with Cardinal Dolan, I encourage a novena to St. Joseph.  The Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary is March 19, which means a novena should begin nine days leading up to his feast, March 11.  See Cardinal Dolan’s blog post here. 

Prayers to our Blessed Mother, Mother of the Church, seeking her intercession on behalf of the Cardinal Electors are a great assistance.  Mary accompanied our Lord throughout His life and ministry, his death and resurrection.  Mary was present in the Upper Room with the Apostles when they received the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Mary is present with us now, to hold us close to her Son.  Let us prayerfully seek her intercession on behalf of her Son’s Church at this critical time.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, prayers to the Holy Spirit are most beneficial to lead and guide our Cardinals that they will choose the Successor to St. Peter whom God’s will envisions.  The Church is both human and divine.  Just as the Sacraments build upon our human nature, so, too, the Holy Spirit works through the very human process of a Conclave to select a Pope to lead and guide the Catholic Church. 

Just as Christ’s divinity was hidden in his humanity, so, today, the divinity of Christ is hidden within the humanity of His Church.  This means that just as Christ’s divinity was always present with his humanity, so, too, his divinity is always present within His Church. 

Let us now keep vigil with and for our Cardinal-Electors, that they may experience the Divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit to select our next Holy Father, the one who is the desire of our Heavenly Father.

+pde

This week is National Vocations Awareness Week.  I have offered Masses this week asking that all people come to a deep realization of God’s love for them and how that love is experienced most profoundly in our relationship with Jesus Christ.  For me, this is the starting point of coming to know what one’s mission in life entails.  We believe that God is the author of all creation.  Indeed, this is why Jesus preached with authority (Mark 1:22), because he is the author of all life.  One line that remains with me from Pope Benedict XVI’s new book, Jesus of Nazareth, The Infancy Narratives is this: Jesus is the “Logos, the creative logic behind all things” (p.64)

It thus makes sense that to know why we were created, we must first come to know the One who created us, and that He created us out of love and for love.  Each person’s individual vocation is rooted in this relationship with Jesus Christ.  Discovering our mission comes from listening to the voice of Jesus.  Indeed, the word vocation comes from the Latin, vocare, meaning, to call. 

I read recently in a book by Sherry Weddell, Forming Intentional Disciples her astute observation to the comment often heard today: “There are not enough vocations in the Church today.”  Sherry without diminishing the beauty and necessity of Holy Orders (bishops, priests and deacons) and consecrated life (men and women religious) says there are plenty of vocations.  The problem is that we are not recognizing most of them!  Her point, not missed by this bishop, is that the laity have a vital role to play in the Church.  The laity have a vital role to play in building God’s Kingdom.  They, too, have a God-given mission to accomplish.

The primary vocation shared by all is to live lives that are holy, rooted in the Gospel.  Individually, this vocation takes shape as those called to marriage, or holy orders, or religious life, and some as single celibates.  At the heart of the Christian vocation is the invitation to model our life on the life of Christ.  To be created in the image and likeness of God is to be created for communion.  The life of Christ was a total self gift to the Father in obedience to His will.  The life of Christ was a total self gift to all of humanity to fulfill the Father’s work of redemption.

Here in lies the heart of all vocations; self gift.  Each of us is called to live our life not for self, but for God, His Church, and for others.  It is in this self gift that we achieve true self-realization.  As we live this call from Christ to live our lives for him, we come to deeper realization of the gifts He has given us to aid us in furthering His Kingdom.  This is what the active faith-life for each of us means; following Christ, actively participating in the sacramental life of the Church, and actively participating in the ministries of the Church that ultimately lead others to Christ.

Please join me in praying that more and more people discover their vocation in life.  Join me in praying that more and more people discover the particular way God is inviting them to actively follow Christ and to build up His Kingdom.  Join me in asking that each of us discover the joy of knowing, loving, and serving our God!

Peace,

+pde

Ground Breaking Ceremony in Sheridan

This morning we broke ground for a new Habitat for Humanity home in Sheridan. A few major events were the driving force behind this particular idea.

This year, the Diocese of Cheyenne is celebrating its 125 Anniversary.  We also in this past year promulgated a new Diocesan Strategic Plan.  We wanted to do something significant as a means of celebrating our faith, and the thought of building a habitat home seemed both appropriate and exciting.

When Fr. Jim Heiser, pastor of Holy Name in Sheridan shared with me that the parish was assessing the various pieces of real estate it owned, and deciding the best use of these properties, I asked him if the parish would be willing to donate one of the lots for a habitat home.  The idea was embraced, and we were off and running.

Blessing the construction site: Fr. Heiser, pastor, Bishop Etienne, and Deacon John Bigelow.

 Every year, the diocese sets aside a percentage of our annual appeal, Living and Giving in Christ as a means of tithing to support local, national or international relief or assistance efforts.  This year, the Stewardship Committee committed $40,000 towards this Habitat home.  With the additional support of Habitat for Humanity and the Holy Name Catholic Church, the project is funded sufficiently to move forward.

In time, all the Catholic communities of Wyoming will be invited to support this project, either through fund raising, or by sending materials and volunteers to assist in building the home.  I know several groups have already expressed interest in coming to Sheridan to work on the home.  If you or a group from your parish are interested in working on the home, please contact Deacon John Bigelow at Holy Name.  I know this bishop fully intends to spend a day or two with a hammer working at the site!

Pope Benedict XVI in his first Encyclical, God is Love taught that the three-fold nature of the Church is the Ministry of the Word, Ministry of Sacrament, and the Ministry of Charity.  This habitat project is a concrete way for the Catholics of Wyoming to live this basic ministry of Charity, and thus grow in faith.  I invite all our parishes and parishioners to please support this project.  Please God, given the success of this project, we may be able to build at least one more home in the coming years.

I wish to thanks Deacon John Bigelow for his willingness to coordinate this project on behalf of the Church.  Thanks to Fr. Jim and the people of Holy Name Catholic Church who have already shown such generous support.  Of course, we thank Habitat for Humanity for their 37 years of generous service to those in need.  In particular, thanks to Matt Davis, Executive Director for Habitat in the Eastern Bighorns, Brian Spring, Site Supervisor for this home, and Sandy Baird, the architect of the home.

May God bring to completion this good work begun today!

Peace,

+pde

As promised, here is a photo of an audience with Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday, May 5. This was taken immediately after the Region XIII Bishops received the Holy Father’s Fourth Discourse to the American Bishops. His topic this time was on the Catholic Identity of our Catholic Schools.

And so ends my first ad limina apostolorum. Much to my surprise and delight, these many meetings were not so much another experience of administration, but they truly focused on the pastoral dimension of our Apostolic Ministry as Bishops.

Almost every one of the Dicastery meetings gave us a reflection and challenge on how our ministry is to be a proclamation of Jesus Christ to those we serve and all we encounter.  We have been inspired and strengthened to help our people and our culture encounter Christ and assimilate the faith into every aspect of human life.  There is much now for me to take to prayer as I continue to preach the Gospel which Christ, through His Church has entrusted to me.

Procession; Mass at tomb of Blessed John Paul II, St. Peter's Basilica. (My, those bishops move fast!)

 The greatest means by which Christ incorporates us into His own risen, new, and eternal life, is through the Sacraments of the Church.  What a grace we have to be able to celebrate the Eucharist every day, every week.  Our Catholic, Christian life is a participation in the Paschal Mystery, the death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord.  The Eucharist is a participation in the presence of the Risen Lord in our midst, and a great strength for us to live always in intimate communion with Christ.

 After Mass at St. Peter’s we had an informative meeting with Cardinal Koch at the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Cardinal Koch greeting Archbishop Sheehan and other region bishops.

 Once this, and our final Dicastery meeting was complete, we returned to the College for one more wardrobe change to prepare for a second audience with the Holy Father.  The 4th Discourse to the American Bishops delivered this morning was on the topic of Catholic Education.

Bishops in the Consistory Hall in anticipation of audience with Pope Benedict XVI.

 Last, but not least, a crowd pleas-er.  As you know, the Swiss Guard, the oldest, continuously existing ‘military’ are omnipresent throughout the Vatican.  Their Michael Angelo uniform is very distinctive, as is their service to the Holy Father.

Swiss Guard in the Apostolic Palace.

 As I now prepare to enjoy my final hours in Rome, please know of my gratitude for all of your prayers.  These have been grace-filled days, and I’m sure that the Holy Spirit will continue to inflame the faith of our local Church in the State of Wyoming, as well as the Universal Church.

If you have enjoyed these past few blog entries, you may wish to follow the mother of all episcopal blogs in the days ahead.  My friend, Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg, Florida landed a few hours ago and will be making his ad limina with Region XIV.  His reflections will no doubt be informative and entertaining. 

Once I have received the official photos of the audiences with the Holy Father, I will post them.  Sunday, I will be ‘off the air’ as I will be ‘in the air’ most of the day.  Peace and blessings to all of you!

+pde

Our Lady of Humility, Mary, Mother of the Church, Pray for us!

Preparing for audience with Holy Father outside his Library.

Well, gang, it is late, and has been a long day! We started early and went late, and to top it all off, we dealt with cross-city meetings in Friday Roman traffic. However, it was another grace-filled day. So, rather than give much commentary, I will simply post a few pictures, and try to follow up with some information later. Tomorrow is our last day of meetings.

We met with the Holy Father today, and are blessed to have another audience with him in the morning. Region XIII bishops will receive the Holy Father’s 4th Discourse, topic yet unknown. Stay tuned!

Awaiting meeting with Archbishop Fisichella, Council for the New Evangelization.

Praying at the Tomb of St. PaulOutside St. Paul's Outside the Walls Basilica.

Our day concluded with Mass at St. John Lateran. This basilica serves as the Cathedral of Rome, and of course, the Holy Father is also the Bishop of Rome. It is interesting that while in Rome, the Eucharistic prayer calls for the mention of “Benedict XVI, our Pope and Bishop.”

Reception with American Priests working in Rome; Villa Stritch

Today marks the 20th Anniversary of my Deacon Ordination in St. Peter’s Basilica. Providentially, I have the grace to be back in the Eternal City to mark this occasion.

Yesterday was the first day in Rome.  After arriving at the North American College, I spent some time in the Blessed Sacrament chapel where many hours were spent as a seminarian, prayerfully discerning and listening to the voice of the Lord as He lead me to His altar of Priesthood.  There is a beautiful image of the Good Shepherd on the door of the tabernacle in this chapel, and it is aptly named, the “Good Shepherd Chapel.”  It was nice to be praying in the chapel again on Good Shepherd Sunday.

I then joined our two seminarians, Dan Poelma and Bob Rodgers, and the entire NAC community for Sunday Brunch.  Following lunch we were able to arrive in St. Peter’s Square to join thousands of other pilgrims for the Noon Angelus with our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.  St. Peter’s Square was packed.  I suspect a good many pilgrims have returned this week to mark the first anniversary of the Beatification of Blessed John Paul II.

Following a little ‘jet lag nap’, I celebrated Mass with some of the other bishops who were just arriving.  We then made a nice viist to Santa Maria Sopra Minerva where St. Catherine of Siena is buried, as 29 April marks her feast day.  St. Catherine is one of my favorites, and she once again provided a few spiritual gifts to mark the occasion. 

Before leaving the College, I breifly met and visited with Archbishop Peter Sartain, who is the delegate for the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith to work with the Leadership Conference of Religious Women.  During my visit to the tomb of St. Catherine, I sought her intercession for the LCWR Leadership and Archbishop Sartain.  She has always proven to be a great intercessor, and I’m confident the dialouge between Archbishop Sartain and the LCWR leadership will be fruitful.  I also prayed for all our many, good sisters and all their good work.

Today, a new day begins.  As each day here in Rome for this ad limina visit, I remember all the people, institutions and ministries of the Diocese of Cheyenne in my prayers.  Today, I especially include all my classmates.  It will be a true grace to celebrate Mass this evening in the Immaculate Conception Chapel here at the Pontifical North American College. 

May all of you have a blessed day!

+pde

Here is the homily for the Easter Vigil. Blessed Easter greetings to one and all!

The Gospel tonight indeed proclaims Good News!  He is not here!  (Mark 16)  He is Risen!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Happy Easter! 

Because the Resurrection of Jesus is a reality and a mystery yet to be fully understood, it is difficult to describe.  And yet, because of the difference it makes for us, in terms of our faith, we must do our best to express our understanding, and define it as best we can.  Indeed, if Jesus Christ is not raised from the dead, our faith makes absolutely no sense. 

St. Paul says as much in the First Letter to the Corinthians:  “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain.  If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.  If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.  But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.”  (1 Corinthians 15:13-14, 17, 19-20)

So, what is this Resurrection of Jesus?  And what is this New Life that He now enjoys, and promises to those of us who believe in Him?  Perhaps one of the simplest explanations is given by Pope Benedict XVI in the Second Volume of his book, Jesus of Nazareth: 

“Jesus has not returned to a normal human life in this world…He has entered upon a different life, a new life – he has entered the vast breadth of God himself, and it is from there that he reveals himself to his followers.”  (Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, II, pp. 244-245)  Does this not make sense?  Jesus told His disciples He was returning to the Father.  (John 13:3)  What else could that mean except that He was to take up His life again, (John 10:18) a life which is in the ‘vast breadth of God himself?’

At the same time, Jesus’ Resurrection is not isolated from our human journey and experience.  Jesus’ ‘return to the Father’ was and is for all of us.  Jesus’ Incarnation, life, ministry, passion, death, resurrection and ascension into heaven were for our salvation, expressly to grant us access to Life in God.  Meaning, the New Life of Jesus “opens for us a new dimension of human existence.”  (Benedict XVI, ibid, p. 244), and this new dimension of human existence is our Life in God through the Risen Christ.

Even though the fullness of this New Life will only be lived when we ‘passover’ to the Father (in eternal life), we none-the-less have access to this new dimension of human existence here and now!  This is what our Faith in Christ and our sacramental life in the Church is all about.  Jesus does not belong to the past.  He is our Contemporary!  Jesus is for us today!  This Newness of Life is a present experience.  Jesus is LIFE, and thus He is present to us today.

This is what St. Paul tells us this Holy Night in his letter to the Romans:  “We were indeed buried with [Christ] through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.”  (Romans 6: 4)

We experience this ‘newness of life’ through Baptism and the Sacraments of the Church.  We experience this ‘newness of life’ in the hope that is ours in the face of trials, disappointments, illness, even death.  This ‘newness of life’ is the ‘infusion’ of the Divine Life into the daily life of the believer.  This ‘newness of life’ is what underlines and highlights all that is good, beautiful and true. 

This ‘newness of life’ takes over when the answers of this life fall short.  This ‘newness of life’ supports us when the events of this life let us down.  This ‘newness of life’ is what invites and allows us to trust in God when He seems to request, even demand, more than we seem capable of giving.  This ‘newness of life’ is what allows us to transcend this life when we are willing to live the Gospel commandment to die so that we may truly live.

Jesus Christ, as our psalmist tells us tonight, is ‘the stone which the builders rejected, who has become the cornerstone’.  (Ps 118)  Because Christ has conquered death and lives no more to die, and because we who believe in Him share in that victory, we, with the psalmist are able to pray ourselves: “The right hand of the Lord has struck with power; the right hand of the Lord is exalted.  I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.”  (Ps 118)

Today, in Cheyenne, we celebrate the anniversary of the dedication of our Cathedral, The Assumption of our Blessed Mother.  The readings for such an occassion recall from Matthew the encounter between Jesus and his disciples when he asks them: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  It is at this time that St. Peter makes his marvelous confession of faith:  “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  (Mt 16:16)  It is because of this faith of Peter Jesus is then able to have the “foothold” or “foundation” he needs to establish, to “build” his Church.

A feast like today begs the question: “What is the mission of the Church”?  Indeed, that mission has always been, is today, and will always be a mission of Evangelization and Salvation.  Just as Jesus founded the Church on a profession of faith, so is the Church through the ages to continue to proclaim the same faith: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”.  For it is by this name and person of Jesus that salvation is accomplished.

As if to reinforce the importance of faith, Jesus turns to Peter again at the Last Supper and says:  “Simon, Simon, Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail, and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.”  To this, Peter bravely, and somewhat naively responds:  “Lord, I am prepared to go to prison and die with you.”  (Luke 22:31-33)

As we  know, Peter’s faith did falter, but he did “turn back” to the Lord, as we know from another beautiful encounter between St. Peter and the Risen Lord in John 21. “Simon Peter, do you love me”? This faith of St. Peter, this “foundation” of the Church, is the faith that has come to us over the ages, in and through the Church, because of the Church.  Indeed, every liturgical celebration within our churches, every prayer offered up to God, has been a great procession of “giving and receiving” faith. 

Pope Benedict in his writings offers that we cannot proclaim the faith except from within the Church.  The faith, as a gift given to Peter by the Father, is a gift given to us by the Church.  It is always and only with the Church we profess Christ as the Son of the Living God.  Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict has cited several times in recent months that the greatest crisis facing the Church today is a crisis of faith. 

As we celebrate the solemnity of the dedication of our Cathedral church today, I pray that every member of this Body of Christ may today be strengthened and renewed in this great faith.  May each of our celebrations of faith continue this great procession of giving and receiving faith, until history and time pierce eternity itself.

+PDE