Pope Francis: A Bishop doesn't own his diocese, just like a priest doesn't own his parish

 In his weekly general audience, Pope Francis talked about the Sacrament of Holy Orders.  He explained that priests are ordained to serve, therefore, a Bishop doesn't own his diocese, just like a priest doesn't own his parish. Rather, the Pope explained, it all belongs to the Lord.

To not lose this call to service, the Pope asked all priests and Bishops to nurture their vocation through prayer and the Sacraments.

--Pope Francis, Wednesday Audience, 26 March 2014
http://www.romereports.com/pg156214-pope-a-bishop-doesn-t-own-his-diocese-just-like-a-priest-doesn-t-own-his-parish-en

Pope Francis: Pray for your pastors, so that they don't become mediocre

A bishop who doesn't pray, a bishop who doesn't listen to the Word of God, who doesn't celebrate Mass everyday, who doesn't go to Confession on a regular basis—and the same thing happens to a priest that doesn't do these things. He looses his union with Jesus and lives with a mediocrity that hurts the Church.

--Pope Francis, Wednesday Audience, 26 March 2014

"Do you love me? Are you my friend?"

2013-05-23 Vatican Radio

(On Thursday evening, Pope Francis joined the Bishops of Italy as they gathered in Saint Peter’s Basilica for their 65th General Assembly. The gathering began with opening remarks by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, the President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, followed by the Liturgy of the Word. Pope Francis then offered a brief meditation on the readings. At the conclusion of the evening’s ceremonies, Pope Francis led the Bishops in a solemn Profession of Faith. Below, please find the complete translation of Pope Francis’ remarks.)

Dear Brothers in the Episcopate,

The readings we have heard make us thing. They have made me think a great deal. I have made something like a meditation. For us bishops, and first of all for me, a bishop like you, I share it with you.

It is significant - and I am particularly happy - that our first meeting should be held right here in the place that preserves not only the tomb of Peter, but also the living memory of his witness of faith, of his service to the truth, and of the gift he gave of himself – to the point of martyrdom – for the Gospel and for the Church.

This evening this altar of the Confession becomes our Lake of Tiberias, on the shores of which we listen to the wonderful dialogue between Jesus and Peter, with the question addressed to the Apostle, but which should resound in our own hearts, the hearts of bishops.

“Do you love me?”; “Are you my friend?” (Cf. Jn 21:15 ff)

The question is addressed to a man who, despite his solemn declaration, was overcome by fear and went back on his word.

“Do you love me?”; “Are you my friend?”

The question is addressed to me and to each one of you, to all of us: if we avoid reacting too hastily and superficially, it encourages us to look within, to enter into ourselves.

“Do you love me?”; “Are you my friend?”

He who searches hearts (cf. Rom 8:27) makes himself a beggar of love, and questions us on the only really essential question, the premise and condition for pastoring his sheep, his lambs, his Church. Every ministry is based on this intimacy with the Lord; to live in him is the measure of our ecclesial service, which is expressed in an openness to obedience, to emptying of self, as we heard in the Letter to the Philippians, to total giving (cf. Phil 2:6-11).

Moreover, the consequence of loving the Lord is giving everything - absolutely everything, even one’s very life - for Him: this is what must distinguish our pastoral ministry; it is the litmus test that shows how profoundly we have embraced the gift received in response to the call of Jesus, and how we are joined to the people and the communities that have been entrusted to us. We are not expressions of a structure or an organizational need: even with the service of our authority we are called to be a sign of the presence and action of the Risen Lord, and so, to build up the community in fraternal charity.

Not that this is taken for granted: even the greatest love, in fact, when it is not continuously fed, fades and goes out. Not without reason the Apostle Paul warns: “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the Church of God which he obtained with the blood of his own Son”(Acts 20:28).

The lack of vigilance - we know – makes the Pastor lukewarm; he becomes distracted, forgetful and even impatient; it seduces him with the prospect of a career, the lure of money, and the compromises with the spirit of the world; it makes him lazy, turning him into a functionary, a cleric worried more about himself, about organisations and structures, than about the true good of the People of God. He runs the risk, then, like the Apostle Peter, of denying the Lord, even if he is present to us and speaks in His name; the holiness of the hierarchy of Mother Church is obscured, making it less fertile.

Who are we, Brothers, before God? What are our challenges? We all have so many, each one of us knows his own. What is God saying to us through them? What are we relying on to overcome them?

As it was for Peter, the insistent and heartfelt question of Jesus can leave us saddened and may leave us more aware of the weakness of our freedom, beset as it is by a thousand internal and external constraints, which often cause confusion, frustration, even disbelief.

These are certainly not the feelings and attitudes that the Lord intends to arouse; rather, the Enemy, the Devil, takes advantage of them to isolate us in bitterness, in complaints, and in discouragement.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, does not humiliate us or abandon us to remorse: in Him, the tenderness of the Father speaks, He who comforts and raises up; He who makes us pass from the disintegration of shame – because shame surely causes us to disintegrate – to the fabric of trust; who restores courage, recommits responsibility, and consigns us to the mission.

Peter, purified by the fire of forgiveness, can humbly say, “Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you” (Jn 21:17). I am sure we can all say this from the heart. In this Peter, purified, in his first letter exhorts us to feed “the flock of God that is your charge, not by constraint but willingly, not for shameful gain but eagerly, not as domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock”(1 Peter 5,2-3).

Yes, to be pastors means to believe every day in the grace and strength that comes to us from the Lord, despite our weakness, and to fully assume the responsibility of walking in front of the flock, freed from the burdens that hinder a healthy apostolic swiftness, and without hesitation in leading, to make our voice recognizable both to those who have embraced the faith, but also to those who are “not of this fold” (John 10:16): we are called to make our own the dream of God, whose house knows no exclusion of persons or nations, as Isaiah prophetically announced in the First Reading (cf. Is 2:2-5).

Therefore, being pastors also means to be ready to walk in the midst of and behind the flock: capable of listening to the silent story of the suffering and bearing up the steps of those who are afraid of not succeeding; careful to raise up, to reassure, and inspire hope. By sharing with the humble our faith always comes out strengthened: let us put aside, therefore, any form of arrogance, to incline ourselves toward those the Lord has entrusted to our care. Among these, a special place is reserved for our priests: especially for them, our hearts, our hands, and our doors remain open at all times. They are the first faithful we bishops have, our priests. Let us love them! Let us love them from the heart! They are our sons and our brothers.

Dear brothers, the profession of faith that we now renew together is not a formal act, but is a renewal of our response to the “Follow Me” with which the Gospel of John concludes (21:19): allow your own life to unfold according to the project of God, committing your whole self to the Lord Jesus. From here springs that discernment that recognises and takes on the thoughts, the expectations, and the needs of the men of our time.

With this in mind, I sincerely thank each of you for your service, for your love for the Church and the Mother, and here, I place you, and I place myself, too, under the mantle of Mary, Our Mother.
Mother of the silence that preserves the mystery of God, deliver us from the idolatry of the present, to which those who forget are condemned. Purify the eyes of pastors with the balm of memory:that we might return to the freshness of the beginning, for a praying and penitent Church.

Mother of the beauty that blossoms from fidelity to daily work, remove us from the torpor of laziness, of pettiness, and defeatism. Cloak Pastors with that compassion that unifies and integrates: that we might discover the joy of a humble and fraternal servant Church.

Mother of the tenderness which enfolds in patience and mercy, help us burn away the sadness, impatience, and rigidity of those who have not known what it means to belong.

Intercede with your Son that our hands, our feet and our hearts may be swift: that we may build the Church with the truth in charity.

Mother, we will be the People of God, on pilgrimage towards the Kingdom. Amen.

--http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-leads-italian-bishops-in-profession-of-faith

WHAT THE SHEPHERD DOES ON FINDING THE LOST SHEEP

When he found it, he did not chastise it; he did not use rough blows to drive it back, but gently placed it on his own shoulders and carried it back to the flock. He took greater joy in this one sheep, lost and found, than in all the others.

Let us look more closely at the hidden meaning of this parable. The sheep is more than a sheep, the shepherd more than a shepherd. They are examples enshrining holy truths. They teach us that we should not look on men as lost or beyond hope; we should not abandon them when they are in danger or be slow to come to their help. When they turn away from the right path and wander, we must lead them back, and rejoice at their return, welcoming them back into the company of those who lead good and holy lives.

--Saint Asterius of Amasea (Bishop), Homily

STRIKING THE SHEPHERD

I am going to strike the shepherd
so that the sheep may be scattered,
and I will turn my hand against the weak.
And it will happen throughout this territory –
it is the Lord who speaks –
that two-thirds in it will be cut off (‘will be killed’)
and the remaining third will be left.
I will lead that third into the fire,
and refine them as silver is refined,
test them as gold is tested.
They will call on my name
and I shall listen;
and I shall say: These are my people;
and each will say, “The Lord is my God!”’

--Zecharia 13:7-9

"Knowing" means loving

“I know my sheep and mine know me”. “To know”, in the idiom of sacred Scripture, never refers to merely exterior knowledge, like the knowledge of someone’s telephone number. “Knowing” means being inwardly close to another person. It means loving him or her. We should strive to “know” men and women as God does and for God’s sake; we should strive to walk with them along the path of God's friendship.

--Benedict XVI, Homily at the closing of the Year for Priests, 11 June 2010

SHEPHERDS BRING CHRIST FROM THE PAST TO THE PRESENT

It is the shepherd's task to feed and tend his flock and take it to the right pastures. Grazing the flock means taking care that the sheep find the right nourishment, that their hunger is satisfied and their thirst quenched. The metaphor apart, this means: the word of God is the nourishment that the human being needs. Making God's word ever present and new and thereby giving nourishment to people is the task of the righteous Pastor. And he must also know how to resist the enemies, the wolves. He must go first, point out the way, preserve the unity of the flock. Peter, in his discourse to priests, highlights another very important thing. It is not enough to speak. Pastors must make themselves "examples to the flock". (5: 3). When it is lived, the word of God is brought from the past into the present. It is marvellous to see how in saints the word of God becomes a word addressed to our time. In such figures as Francis and then again, as Padre Pio and many others, Christ truly became a contemporary of their generation, he emerged from the past to enter the present. This is what being a Pastor means a model for the flock: living the word now, in the great community of holy Church.

(Benedict XVI, Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul, 29 June 2009)

Need of priests for conversion

Even our shortcomings, our limitations and our weaknesses must lead us back to the Heart of Jesus. Indeed, if it is true that sinners, in contemplating him, must learn from him the necessary "sorrow for sins" that leads them back to the Father, it is even more so for holy ministers. How can we forget, in this regard, that nothing makes the Church, the Body of Christ, suffer more than the sins of her pastors, especially the sins of those who are transformed into "a thief and a robber" of the sheep (Jn 10: 1 ff.), or who deviates from the Church through their own private doctrines, or who ensnare the Church in sin and death? Dear priests, the call to conversion and recourse to Divine Mercy also applies to us, and we must likewise humbly address a heartfelt and ceaseless invocation to the Heart of Jesus to keep us from the terrible risk of harming those whom we are bound to save.

(Pope Benedict XVI, Opening of the Year for Priets, 19 June 2009)

Sacraments

"Together with preaching the word, the administration of the sacraments is a bishop's primary duty, to which all his other responsibilities are subordinate. ...

"This pertains not only to celebrating the Eucharist and administering the sacrament of Confirmation, but also to baptising children and those adults who have been prepared.... Nor should we underestimate the importance of personally hearing confessions and visiting the sick to administer the sacrament of Anointing.... Another important duty for a bishop, which he shares with his pastors, is solicitude for the sanctity of marriage; when it is possible, he should celebrate marriages personally."

(John Paul II, Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way, pp 70-71)

"I have always had good relations with religious orders and worked well with them. ... The religious orders never caused me any problems, and my relations with all of them were good. They were a great help to me in my mission as a bishop. My thoughts also turn to the great reserves of spiritual energy found in the contemplative orders. ... [They] never cease to serve the universal Church through their self-giving, silence, and fervent prayer.

"Every bishop can find great support in them. I experienced this many times when, faced with a difficult problem, I would ask certain contemplative orders for the support of their prayers. I felt the power of their intercession and I would thank those sisters gathered in their Upper Rooms of prayer for helping me to overcome situations that, humanly speaking, seemed hopeless."

(John Paul II, Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way, pp 119-121)

The Good Shepherd looks after every single sheep

"'The good shepherd knows his sheep and they know him'(John 10:14). A bishop should try to ensure that as many as possible of those who, together with him, make up the local Church can come to know him personally. He for his part will seek to be close to them, to know about their lives--what gives joy to their hearts and what saddens them. Such mutual acquaintaince cannot be built through occasional meetings. It comes from a genuine interest in what is happening in their lives regardless of age, social status, or nationality, whether they are close at hand or far away. ...

"Every human being is an individual person and therefore I cannot program a priori a certain type of relationship that could be applied to everyone, but I must, so to speak, learn it anew in every case. ...

"Every person is a chapter to himself. I always acted with this conviction ...

"Interest in others begins with the bishop's prayer life: his conversations with Christ, who entrusts 'His own' to him. Prayer prepares him for encounter with others. ... I simply pray for everyone every day. As soon as I meet people, I pray for them, and this helps me in all my relationships. ... I welcome everyone as a person sent to me and entrusted to me by Christ.

"I don't like the word 'crowd', which seems to anonymous; I prefer the word 'multitude', in Greek 'plethos' (cf Mark 3:7, Lk 6:17, Acts 2:6, Acts 14:1 and elsewhere). ... That's how it was in Manila, where there were millions of young people. Yet in a case like that it would have been wrong to speak of an anonymous crowd."

(John Paul II, Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way, pp 65-67)

Image of the Shepherd

[John Paul II, commenting on the logo of the CCC--the Good Shepherd] "It is an image that speaks of the Shepherd's concern for every sheep--a concern filled with the patience needed to reach every individual in a truly personal way. It also includes the gift of tongues, that is the gift of speaking in a language understood by all the faithful. We should pray to the Holy Spirit for this gift."

St Joseph and Fatherhood

"There is no doubt that the episcopate is an office, but a bishop must resist with all his strength any tendency to become a mere official. He must never forget that he is a father. As I said earlier, Cardinal Sapieha was so greatly loved because he was a father to his priests. When I wonder who could serve as a help and a model for all those called to fatherhood--whether in the family or in the priesthood, or even more so in the episcopate--it is Saint Joseph who comes to mind. ...

"We know that Jesus addressed God with the word 'Abba'--a loving, familiar word that would have been used by children in first-century Palestine when speaking to their fathers. Most probably Jesus, like other children, used this same word when speaking to St Joseph. ...

"... For his part, Saint Joseph offered the child growing up beside him the support of a healthy masculinity, a clear understanding of human problems, and courage. ...

"For Saint Joseph, life with Jesus was a continuous discovery of his own vocation as a father. He became a son in the flesh. Isn't this, perhaps, an example of the type of fatherhood that is proposed to us, priests and bishops, as a model? Everything I did in the course of my ministry I saw as an expression of this kind of fatherhood--baptising, hearing confessions, celebrating the Eucharist, preaching , admonishing, encouraging."

(John Paul II, Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way, pp 137, 139-140)

Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep

"A bishop must guide and lead. The faithful will listen to him and love him to the degree that he imitates Christ, the Good Shepherd, who 'did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many' (Matt 20:28). To serve! How I treasure those words! A priesthood of service--what an astounding title...

"Sometimes you hear people defending the idea that a bishop's authority should be understood as precedence: they say the sheep are to follow behind the shepherd, not the shepherd behind the sheep. One can agree with this, but only in the sense that the shepherd leads by giving his life for his sheep; he should be first in sacrifice and in dedication."

(John Paul II, Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way, p 49)

Fortitude and Courage for My Brother Bishops

"That invitation, 'Rise, let us be on our way,' is addressed particularly to us bishops, His chosen friends. Even if these words indicate a time of trial, great effort, and a painful cross, we must now allow ourselves to give way to fear. They are also words of peace and joy, the fruit of faith. ... God's love does not impose burdens upon us that we cannot carry, nor make demands of us that we cannot fulfill. For whatever He asks of us, He provides the help that is needed.

"I say this from the place to which the love of Christ Our Saviour has led me, asking of me that I should leave my native land so as to bring forth fruit elsewhere through His grace--fruit that will last (cf John 15:16). Echoing the words of our Lord and Master, I too say to each one of you, dear brothers in the episcopate: 'Rise, let us be on our way!' Let us go forth full of trust in Christ. He will accompany us as we journey toward the goal that He alone knows."

(John Paul II, Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way, p 216)

It seems incredible, but that is how it is: God needs the raised hands of his servant! Moses' raised arms are reminiscent of the arms of Jesus on the Cross: the outspread, nailed arms with which the Redeemer won the crucial battle against the infernal enemy. His fight, his arms raised to the Father and wide open for the world, ask for other arms, other hearts that continue to offer themselves with his same love until the end of the world.

I am addressing you in particular, dear Pastors of the Church in Naples, making my own the words that St Paul address to Timothy and that we heard in the Second Reading: remain firm in what you have learned and have believed. Preach the word, persevere on every occasion, in season and out of season, convince, rebuke and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching (cf. II Tim 3: 14, 16; 4: 2). And like Moses on the mountain, persevere in prayer for and with the faithful entrusted to your pastoral care, so that every day they may be able to face together the good fight of the Gospel.

(Pope Benedict XVI, Homily in Naples, 21 October 2007)