EDITOR’S NOTE: We are breaking format slightly by bringing you Bishop Lucia’s column for the Aug. 15 print edition instead of last week’s column. This is more timely, written with the celebration of his 5th Anniversary as Bishop of Syracuse today, August 8, in mind.
Today, August 8, I celebrate the 5th anniversary of my Ordination and Installation as the 11th Bishop of Syracuse. In all honesty, I do not know where time has gone and much of it seems like a blur. Yet, one thing that has been a constancy through it all is the real, palpable presence of the Risen Lord Jesus. I know that these past five years are not about me, but all about him!
There are certainly things that have transpired over the last five years that were not on the horizon when I was ordained as the diocesan bishop. Chapter 11 was certainly not on my mind, nor was the Coronavirus (COVID-19). These moments were definitely growing experiences for me as I charted unnavigated waters as a neophyte captain at the helm.
Nonetheless, the constancy in my life has been the presence of God through thick and thin. There have been days when I have asked, “Are you sure you meant me, Lord?” And a resounding, “Yes” gets sent my way; and usually, quite quickly and with no mistake of misunderstanding whose response it is!
I have been asked more than once what I find is the greatest blessing of being bishop? For me, the answer is simply, “You.” God has given me the tremendous privilege of getting to know and share life with the folks who call Central New York and the Southern Tier home. This does not mean I don’t have my challenges — but what father of a family doesn’t?! However, the opportunity for dialogue and growth together outweighs by far the struggles I may encounter. Knowing that in the wrestling match, God still has the upper hand, as seen in Jacob wrestling with the angel of God (see Gn 32:22-31).
In my own priesthood, August 15 — the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven — has often been associated with a new mission in my life. Three times around this date, I was installed in new pastorates. With this in mind, I thought this column would be a good occasion to answer a question that some have asked me recently: “What is my vision for the next five years?”
My answer remains, in part, very much like the one I gave at my first news conference on June 4, 2019. I want our parishes to be “welcoming” parishes where everyone feels they are wanted and valued. It does not mean one needs to be perfect before they can find a place in the family! Rather, it is the willingness to walk with Christ and support one another that is key! Pope Francis noted at World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal that the Church is open to everyone, and it is meant to be a place of encounter with God as he presents himself to us.
Naturally, this journey involves conversion of heart on all our parts — both personally and communally — as we seek to embrace the Commandments of God and be a living Gospel for all people to hear. On the “Sunday of the Word of God” in January 2023, Pope Francis stated in his homily for the occasion: “Here is Jesus’ invitation: God has come close to you; recognize his presence, make room for his Word, and you will change your outlook on life. I can also put it like this: place your life under the Word of God. This is the path the Church shows us. All of us, even the pastors of the Church, are under the authority of the Word of God. Not under our own tastes, tendencies and preferences, but under the one Word of God that molds us, converts us and calls us to be united in the one Church of Christ. So, brothers and sisters, we can ask ourselves: Where does my life find direction, from where does it draw its orientation? From the many ‘words’ I hear, from ideologies or from the Word of God that guides and purifies me? What are the aspects in me that require change and conversion?”
In that same homily, the Holy Father noted that such conversion is meant to foster our being “heralds of the Gospel.” This is the second part of my vision for the years ahead — how do you and I carry the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth — even when that is just the next house or block over. Again, in the previously mentioned homily, Pope Francis declared, “Today let us also hear the invitation to be fishers of men: let us feel that we are called by Jesus in person to proclaim his Word, to bear witness to it in everyday life, to live it in justice and charity, called to ‘give it flesh’ by tenderly caring for those who suffer. This is our mission: to become seekers of the lost, oppressed and discouraged, not to bring them ourselves, but the consolation of the Word, the disruptive proclamation of God that transforms life, to bring the joy of knowing that he is our Father and addresses each one of us, to bring the beauty of saying, ‘Brother, sister, God has come close to you, listen and you will find in his Word an amazing gift!’”
“Gift” — as I noted in my last column in the Catholic Sun — our mission as a Eucharistic people is to be that gift of the presence of Christ to the world. This would certainly be my hope and prayer for our diocesan family as we seek to grow as the Body of Christ today. It hearkens to the prayer I chose for my Ordination card back in 2019 – Radiating Christ:
Dear Jesus, help me to spread Your fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of Yours. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Your presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus! Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as You shine, so to shine as to be a light to others; the light, O Jesus, will be all from You; none of it will be mine: it will be You shining on others through me. Let me thus praise You in the way You love best: by shining on those around me. Let me preach You without preaching, not by words, but by my example, by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what I do, the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You. (St. John Henry Newman)
Know of my continued prayers for all in our diocesan family and your intentions. In your charity, please pray for me that I may be a good shepherd! Peace & all Good!
