THE UNITED CATHOLIC CHURCH

    Ecumenical, Inclusive, Non-Judgmental, and Independent;       

Homily Given at the Episcopal Ordination of                  the Most Rev. Peter Orlando

by Bishop Rose Tressel, October 4, 2008

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here together to celebrate the joining of this man Peter, to the Bride of Christ, the Church, in loving oneness with our Risen Lord.  The episcopacy is a gift of our Lord to the Church, the means we believe He instituted as His chosen way of perpetuating His own power and authority.  Coming to this vocation then is not a step to be taken lightly or inadvisedly, but soberly, discreetedly, with a discerned calling, and with a deep heartfelt and determined response to follow Christ’s bidding and care for the Church, His Bride, with one’s whole being, just as our forefathers, the Apostles, did in their time.

 The word bishop means overseer, and while this is not a popular concept these days, nevertheless, the word episkopos means just that, the one who is put in authority over others.  This oversight is not to be held in the  sense of a ruler over the ruled, but in the sense of possessing loving responsibility, as a shepherd is responsible and cares for his sheep.  To feed Christ’s lambs and tend Christ’s sheep as He himself showed us to do.

 To be a bishop is not to wear a title of honor, nor is it a hierarchical step up some kind of imaginary ladder.  It is not a job to be picked up and put down.  Nor is it the possession of an individual.   To be a bishop is a called vocation to be a successor to the Apostles, the ones who were sent to preach the Gospel, to sanctify those given into their care, and to lead in love, in season and out of season. It is a life commitment that demands the self-consecration and yielding of one’s whole self: one’s natural gifts, one’s time, and one’s attained qualities gained through experience and education, and yield them all to the inspiration and discipline of the Holy Spirit in the care of the Church.  It is a call to service today, just as it was for the Twelve, and just as it has been for each generation of successors that have followed them in the 2000 years that have passed since, with each generation rightly taking their place to bend their knees at the foot-tub to wash the feet of others.   To be a bishop is, as Scripture tells us, “to feed the Church of the Lord which he obtained with his own blood.” [Acts 20:28]   And to “tend the flock that is in your charge not with constraint, but willingly, not for shameful gain but eagerly, not as domineering to those in your charge but being examples to the flock.”   [1Pet 5:2]

 Peter, in coming here today, you are not a generous, or ego-filled, volunteer who has somehow taken it upon himself to serve.  You have been called, and in response agreed to be Christ's  emissary.  He is the one who  sends you forth to feed his sheep today, just as He has sent those whose lineage you will henceforth share, from generation to generation, and century through century.  It is indeed an overwhelming responsibility you undertake today.

 As a successor to the Apostles you are to faithfully guard the Deposit of Faith that has been given to the Church from the beginning, neither adding to it, nor subtracting from it.  The Book of The Gospels will be held over your head and shoulders in a few moments. Let it be a reminder to you that we are not the owners of the Gospel, but stewards and teachers who are to carry it faithfully in our hearts and on our tongues, preaching the Good News with love in ways that today’s generation can come to understand while we also remain in continuity and in complete fidelity to the Catholic faith as it has been held from the beginning.  The Apostolic Succession is not a mere mechanical giving and receiving.  By the laying on of hands today, the bishops gathered here present will pass to you the gift of the Holy Spirit that brings you the fullness of Holy Orders.  From you must come the holding to the historic faith.  For it is only when the historic succession and historic faith are brought together that the Apostolic Succession continues.

  It is a complex ministry that you have been called to, Peter, there’s more.

 As you know, Christ’s prayer was that his people would be one.  Today Peter you move to the crossroads of church life to become a member of the universal college of bishops.  As St Cyprian of Carthage taught us so long ago, the episcopacy is not local in nature.  It is a single whole, and each bishop has both a right to, and a responsibility for the whole.  As you are ordained into the Order of Bishops Peter, you cease to belong to just this community.  You are now called to stand also at the junction of this local church and the church universal, and you are charged to lovingly bring each to the other, both leading the way and bringing the experience of this place to other churches in helpful ways, and being guided by the collective wisdom and voices of fellow-bishops from the church universal, both living and deceased, in your own decision-making and actions.  As of today Peter you are to care not only for this local church, but to care for all churches, to come to the aid of any who are in need as best you can, to keep the peace with all as best you can, and  to do all you can to build up the Body of Christ in all that you do.  To do less is to fail to live up to the vocation to which you have been called by Christ and to which you answered in faith and trust, “Send me.”

 I suspect that most here recognized that I started this homily today with words that allude to the marriage service.  I did so with a purpose.  Today Peter we will place a ring upon your hand.  It is not a ring of power.  It is a ring of fidelity, a marriage ring, recognizing your covenant with and before God.  In accepting this ring and this consecration, you are called to love and honor Christ’s bride as He does, for better, for worse, for richer and for poorer, in good times and in bad, with all your heart, for as long as you shall live.  

 This is no easy task to which you have been called.  The gift that you receive today will settle in as a weight that will manifest itself to you in many ways as the years pass.  At times it will feel like a very heavy burden.   But you do not go forth to carry it by human power alone any more than the Apostles were sent out on their own power.  When our hands are laid on you, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and as Timothy was reminded by the Apostle Paul in his own time: The Spirit of God with us is not a cowardly spirit, but one which makes us strong and loving and wise.  [2Tim 1:7]  Peter, you can be sure that just as God started this good work in you, He will see it to completion if you will but trust and rely upon Him.  Remember too, that Christ sent out his disciples in groups, not alone.   And so it still is today.  Each bishop here is here for you always, by phone, by email, or by whatever means it takes to help and support you, just as we need you to be there for us. 

 My friends, this journey that Peter is embarking upon today began in response to your need.  As his sponsors Peter has a very real claim on your sympathy, your prayers, and your practical support.  Today I ask that you pray that the fullest gifts and power of the Holy Spirit may be given to him.  Tomorrow and all the days of his ministry, I ask that you follow him with your prayers, and make his ministry a ministry that you too, cherish and support.

 Peter, may the knowledge and assurance of this concentrated prayer and ongoing support uphold you as you consecrate your life and your gifts to the apostolic mission you receive today.  May it bring you an added dimension of inspiration to the divine grace of consecration that it accompanies.  May it sustain you in difficult times, and continuously stir up in you a sense of loyalty and love to our Lord who sends you forth this day, and may it keep you true to Him now and always.  Amen.