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Homily from Vespers Service, Given by Bishop Olmsted

Following is the text from Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted's Dec. 19 homily at a Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral prayer service. For most Phoenix Diocese clergy, this was the first time they had met their new bishop. Bishop Olmsted was installed as the fourth bishop of Phoenix the following day.

Participants in the one Priesthood of Christ
Vespers with the Priests of Phoenix, December 19, 2003

Dear brother priests,

From the time I was named the fourth bishop of Phoenix, I have looked forward to this evening, eager to be with you and to pray with you who are the closest participants with me in the one priesthood of Jesus Christ. We are bound together in a fraternal communion deriving from the Sacrament of Holy Orders. We share a common apostolic mission from Christ and in Christ. You are my closest collaborators in carrying out the mandate I have received from God through the Vicar of Christ, Pope John Paul II.

Dear brothers, I greet you in the grace and peace of Christ and I desire with all my heart to love you and to serve alongside you as a brother in His name.

I also want to welcome His Eminence Cardinal Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles, who graces us with his presence and Archbishop Sheehan, whom I thank with all my heart for his outstanding service to this local Church for the past six months.

I welcome, too, my brother bishops from this region of the country and beyond, together with some guests from Wichita, and a few of my family and friends. I am grateful to all of you for being with us tonight.

I offer a special word of welcome to the seminarians of the Diocese of Phoenix. How grateful to God I am for each of you. I look forward to getting to know you in the days and weeks ahead and. God willing, to ordaining you to the priesthood. I trust that what I have to say to our priests will interest you as well. I am so happy you are with us and I assure you of my prayers, my interest and of my love in Christ.

In the document that John Paul II issued two months ago to mark his 25th Anniversary as the Successor of St. Peter, PASTORES GREGIS, Shepherds of the Flock, he says this about the bishop's relationship with his presbyterate (#47):

"The Bishop will always strive to relate to his priests as a father and brother who loves them, listens to them, welcomes them, corrects them, supports them, seeks their cooperation and, as much as possible, is concerned for their human, spiritual, ministerial and financial well-being."

My brother priests, this is what I shall try to be and to do as your bishop. I know that I shall not do it perfectly; but I shall rely entirely on the mercy of God to make up for my shortcomings. It shall be my intention each day to accompany you, to serve beside and with you, and to lead you as your brother and father in Christ.

In my ministry as a bishop, I have been deeply influenced by the teaching and the example of Pope John Paul II. His latest Apostolic Exhortation on the life and ministry of bishops lays out a vision and direction that I am eager to follow. In a particular way, I am taken by what the Holy Father writes in Paragraph 5, which he entitles: "Servants of the Gospel for the hope of the world."

In this paragraph, His Holiness exhorts us with the words of Jesus to Simon Peter in Luke 5:4: “ ’Due in altum.’ Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Reflecting on these words of our Redeemer, John Paul writes:

"It is Christ Himself who repeats these words to the Successors of those Apostles who heard them from His lips and who, putting their trust in Him, set forth on mission along the byways of the world: Due in altum. In the light of this pressing command from the Lord, we may reread the triple munus entrusted to us in the Church, munus docendi, sanctificandi et regendi.”

My brothers, it is not safe in worldly terms to be called by Christ to close communion with Him and to be sent out in His name. It is a great privilege; it is an undeserved honor; it is a blessing beyond all blessings; but it also entails great risk. It is not safe to make Christ the center of our life. He places us who are priests and bishops in the middle of the most important struggles of human life. While He calls us to be shepherds of His flock, He also sends us out as sheep among wolves. He arms us for battle against the evil one, giving us not the power of guns or smart bombs but the power of His mercy and the example of His humility. He places us at the forefront of the flock to protect and to defend the sheep from wolves and to lead them to green pastures and refreshing streams.

Duc in altum

Let me reflect briefly with you about each of the ways we put out into the deep by fulfilling the three offices or duties that are ours as priests and bishops. First, let us consider our teaching role.

Due in docendo

St. Paul described this responsibility well when he wrote to Timothy (2 Tim 4:2): "Proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.”

Few things are as important as solid preaching and faithful teaching, and few require more work. To fulfill this ministry of the word, we must be attentive to our ongoing formation throughout our lives. There needs to be discipline in taking time for study and reflection. We must set aside time for careful preparation of talks and homilies. Above all, we need to trust the truth and conform our lives to the truth. I cannot emphasize enough the difference it makes in our lives when we trust the truth.

Someone once said of Dorothy Day: "She lived as though the truth were true." That is no small accomplishment. But it is the only way to live a life of integrity and to be credible witnesses of the Gospel before our people. How important it is that we trust the truth that is handed down to us in the Church. Trust all of it, not just the parts that are popular. Trust all of the truth, even those that we do not fully understand or that demand great sacrifice to teach and to live.

In addition, let us take care about the words that we use, and about the promises that we make. Jesus offers uncompromising advice in this regard for His followers: “Say yes when you mean yes and no when you mean no. Anything more than that is from the evil one."

In our Vespers ceremony this evening, I am gladly renewing my own Profession
of Faith and Oath of Fidelity, the same Profession and Oath which you and I made before ordination as a deacon and again as a priest, the same ones I made when ordained a bishop. May we always be faithful to these sacred promises to the Triune God; indeed may we rejoice to know these truths and to believe them and to have the privilege of living them in these times. And may God give us the grace to be ready to die for them if that honor should ever be offered to us.

Due in sanctificando

You and I are the principal guardians and dispensers of the sacraments of the Church. It is a great privilege to offer the sacraments to our people, especially the Sacrament of Penance and the Holy Eucharist.

St. John Vianney reminds us of what an amazing impact a good confessor can have on his people, opening to them the rich fountain of God's mercy and restoring their hope that despite their sins they can be holy. Through his faithful ministry in the confessional, the Cure of Ars helped to bring about a whole spiritual revival in France and beyond.
Pope John Paul II, in his Encyclical on the Eucharist, writes (#31):

"Priests are engaged in a wide variety of pastoral activities. If we also consider the social and cultural conditions of the modern world it is easy to understand how priests face the very real risk of losing their focus amid such a great number of different tasks. The Second Vatican Council saw in pastoral charity the bond which gives unity to the priest's life and work. This, the Council adds, 'flows mainly from the Eucharistic Sacrifice, which is therefore the center and root of the whole priestly life'. "

" Due in altum" takes on a new meaning when we think of these words of Jesus in the context of the Eucharist. For the Eucharist puts us in touch with the depths of the Paschal Mystery of Christ. It plunges us into the abundance of God's mercy. It draws us closely in communion with Christ, the Head and Spouse of the Church.

Surely this is why the Second Vatican Council recommended that we priests celebrate Mass daily, and added (Presb. Ord. #13), "for even if the faithful are unable to be present it is an act of Christ and the Church. " It also explains why the Holy Father goes on to say in his encyclical (#52),

"I consider it my duty therefore to appeal urgently that the liturgical norms for the celebration of the Eucharist be observed with great fidelity. These norms are a concrete expression of the authentically ecclesial nature of the Eucharist; this is their deepest meaning. Liturgy is never anyone's private property...[TJhe liturgical norms [are] a reflection of, and a witness to, the one universal Church made present in every celebration of the Eucharist. Priests who faithfully celebrate Mass according to the liturgical norms, and communities which conform to those norms, quietly but eloquently demonstrate their love for the Church."

Due in regendo

As we ponder the Gospel accounts, we notice that Jesus frequently describes
Himself as a shepherd, a shepherd who goes in search of the one that is lost, who gathers the scattered sheep together as one, who does not run away like a hired hand when the wolf approaches but who stands strong to protect the sheep, even ready to lay down his life for them.

The people who came to know Jesus during His public ministry were struck by
His authority which far surpassed that of the scribes and Pharisees. By Christ's design, we priests possess a share in His authority, not deriving from the community of believers, but from ordination and canonical mission. This authority is intended entirely for the sake of serving others. We carry on the mission of Christ, the Good Shepherd, who came not to be served but to serve.

The challenges we face in shepherding the people of God today are formidable. In the face of scandal, we strive, as St. Paul writes (I Cor 4:2) "to be found trustworthy." In the face of harsh criticism, ridicule and close scrutiny, we strive to live out those words the bishop said the day of our ordination, "Model your life on the mystery of the Lord's cross. "

In tough economic times that add to the burden of pastoral administration and while declining numbers of priests increase the demands on our time, we strive to shepherd the Church after the mind and heart of Jesus Christ who had no place lay His head.

The governing role of priests and bishops is fulfilled in service to the whole body of believers and is necessarily collaborative in nature. The role of the laity, the mission of married couples and the family, the Gospel witness of men and women religious, the ministry of service offered by our deacons - all these and many more contribute to the one mission of Christ in the world and require on our part as priests and bishops an attitude of welcoming, gratitude, invitation and fraternal cooperation. Many times it means that we say by action more than by word what John the Baptist said: "I must decrease; He must increase."

Due in altum

What I have shared with you tonight, of course, is not new. These are just a few reminders of what you already know and strive to live. From what I have observed and read, you, my brother priests of the Diocese of Phoenix, have already put out into the deep. You have remained steadfast and faithful through two of the toughest years of public criticism in the history of the Church in America. Thank you for that fidelity and for your love of Christ and His Church.

As we go forward together, the priests of the Diocese of Phoenix with their new bishop, let us keep in mind three of the favorite words of our Holy Father: "Be not afraid." If Christ is for us who could be against us. Let us trust Him and serve Him with generous, joyful hearts.

Be not afraid.

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