Your Excellencies, Archbishop Schnurr, Metropolitan Archbishop of Cincinnati; Archbishop Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio; Bishop Brennan, former bishop of Columbus, my brother bishops, priests, consecrated religious and lay faithful, I greet you with the words of St. Francis of Assisi, Pax et Bonum, Peace and All Good!
It is a great joy for me to be here today and to preach at the Episcopal Ordination of our dear brother Bishop-elect Earl Fernandes as the 13th Bishop of Columbus.
A special word of welcome to Father Earl’s family who have loved him and have made him the prayerful and humble priest that he is today. I want to prayerfully mention Fr. Earl’s father who has gone to the Lord and his dear mother who is too frail to be here in person. Thankfully, she is able to watch her son’s episcopal ordination on EWTN. These two wonderful people have had the strongest influence on Fr. Earl’s life; especially his spiritual life. They were his mentors during his formative years. Like all parents, they were the Fr. Earl’s and his brothers first teachers in the ways of the faith. They taught him well because they lived what they believed.
I am very honored to preach at Bishop-elect Earl’s episcopal ordination and I thank him for his kind invitation to do so at this beautiful liturgy. I am especially grateful for Earl’s friendship and for his advice and encouragement.
Everything we do this day is under the mantle of the Blessed Virgin Mary as we celebrate the Feast of her Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth. Like Mary, we can truly say this day: “The Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his name!”
We share that same joy with which John the Baptist leaped in his mother’s womb. We echo the words of the prophet Zepheniah: “Shout for joy, O Daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O Daughter Jerusalem!” Today, the Diocese of Columbus shouts and sings for joy as they receive your new shepherd. And the whole Church rejoices as history is being made today when you, Father Earl Fernandes, will become the first Indo-American Catholic Ordinary in the history of the United States of America.
The Gospel account, which we just heard, of the Visitation to Elizabeth by the Blessed Virgin Mary might well be described as one of the most well-loved stories in the Bible. If for nothing else, we are reminded of this event practically every time we sing or recite the Magnificat, the same hymn Mary sang when she visited her cousin, Elizabeth.
In addition, we are offered the opportunity to reflect on this encounter every time we pray the Joyful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary.
The Gospel reading depicts Mary setting out from Nazareth in Galilee into the hill country of Judah to visit her cousin Elizabeth. She set out in response to the message of the angel Gabriel that Elizabeth was six months pregnant.
Even though she herself was with child, Mary set out on a journey of love to give support to her older cousin. Mary brought herself to Elizabeth but she also brought Jesus, the Lord, whom she was carrying in her womb. Mary graced Elizabeth by her journey.
As a result of Mary’s visit, we are told that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Mary not only gave to Elizabeth but she also received from her. She herself was blessed by Elizabeth. “Blessed are you among women … blessed is she who believed.” Both Mary and Elizabeth show themselves to be very aware of the Lord. Elizabeth recognizes Mary as the mother of God and Mary proclaims the greatness of the Lord in response to Elizabeth’s blessing of her.
On his Apostolic Visit to Romania in 2019, our Holy Father, Pope Francis preached on this sacred text. He invited us to meditate on three elements: Mary journeys, Mary encounters and Mary rejoices.
Mary journeys … she makes a difficult and dangerous journey from Nazareth to the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth. It was a journey that required courage and patience. The experience of a journey is one that resonates within the heart of our Bishop-Elect, Father Earl. You are the son of Indian immigrants who journeyed to this land of opportunity and settled in Toledo, Ohio. Your own life’s journey brought you to medical school, where you soon realized that God was calling you to be a priest of Jesus Christ, the Divine Physician. You continued that journey to Rome to study moral theology, to Washington to serve in the Apostolic Nunciature, to the Athenaeum of Ohio to teach, and to the many assignments in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati where you worked with great zeal and love for people.
In writing about your appointment as Bishop of Columbus, Archbishop Schnurr stated: “Through all his assignments, Father Fernandes has been an ever-joyful witness to the goodness, beauty and truth of the Catholic faith.” And now this journey brings you to Columbus!
Mary encounters Elizabeth! In the words of Pope Francis: “Remarkably, the younger woman goes to meet the older one, seeking her roots, while the older woman is reborn and prophetically foretells the future of the younger one. Here, young and old meet, embrace and awaken the best of each. It is a miracle brought about by the culture of encounter, where no one is discarded or pigeonholed, but all are sought out, because all are needed to reveal the Lord’s face. They are not afraid to walk together, and when this happens, God appears and works wonders in his people. The Holy Spirit impels us to go out from ourselves, from all that hems us in, from the things to which we cling.”
Earl, you are a man who loves people and how many lives you have impacted already by your ministry? In a recent interview you said: “I see myself as a man, a human man, made in the image of God, and I see every person as a brother and sister.” These words come from your own experiences of discrimination and prejudice firsthand. You did not give in to anger or despair. Rather, you let these experiences of adversity shape your empathy and compassion. You took heart the wise counsel of St. Teresa of Calcutta: “True love is love that causes us pain, that hurts, and yet brings us joy. That is why we must pray to God and ask Him to give us the courage to love.”
Mary rejoices! She is filled with joy because she entrusts herself to Lord in all things. Mary reminds us that God can always work wonders if we open our hearts to him and to our brothers and sisters. In your first press conference in the Diocese of Columbus, Father Earl, you said that you looked forward to “announcing the joyful Good News and building the Kingdom of God.”
The opening words of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel): He wrote:“The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ, joy is constantly born anew. In this Exhortation I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.” These are words that I know will guide your episcopal ministry.
Pope Francis has a most wonderful description of the work of a bishop: He said: “A bishop will sometimes go before his people, pointing the way and keeping their hopes vibrant. At other times, he will simply be in their midst with his unassuming and merciful presence. At yet other times, he will have to walk after them, helping those who lag behind and – above all – allowing the flock to strike out on new paths.”
This is the road that lies ahead of you my dear brother Earl! In the second reading, we heard the words of Paul to Timothy: “ … rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands … do not be ashamed (then) of testifying to Our Lord, but take your share of suffering for the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling.” Take to heart these words as you shepherd the Lord’s flock in the Diocese of Columbus.
The joy we feel is a sure sign of the presence of God’s Holy Spirit who, as St. Paul reminds us, is the Comforter whose presence among us and in us brings such gifts as love, joy, peace, kindness and faithfulness.
Father Earl, you have chosen as your Episcopal Motto “Veni Per Mariam” – words from a prayer of the Servant of God, Monsignor Luigi Giussani, the founder of Communion and Liberation, “Come Holy Spirit, come through Mary.”
Like Mary, may we open our hearts to receive these precious gifts, fruits of the grace of this special and sacred moment. It is of course through the powerful presence of God’s Spirit, acting through this sacrament of Holy Orders, that our new bishop will be not just commissioned but enabled by God’s grace to be all that the Lord and his Church requires of him as a bishop, a successor of the apostles, in this diocese and in the Church.
It is important for us to remind ourselves that through this liturgy, so full of rich symbolism, we are all being drawn into a mysterious, powerful and certain work of God. Through the grace of this sacrament of God’s provident love, you will be remolded, reshaped, into a living image of the presence of the one true Good Shepherd among his people. In this sense the words of John the Baptist in reference to Jesus must hold good for you as well: “He must increase. I must decrease.”
Earl, remain close to the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is first in the praise of God and she is for us the best teacher of prayer. As our Mother she is always close to us, just as she was close to her Son, standing with him in his agony, at the foot of the cross. And she is also, in her own words, “the handmaid” of the Lord, for she always brings us to her Son that he may heal and redeem us. “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
We do indeed rejoice. We rejoice in this work of the Holy Spirit who alone can evoke in us the holiness we are called to radiate, the light of the knowledge of God’s glory, the glory on the face of Christ himself, visible in our lives, today and always.
My dear brother Earl, may God who has begun this good work in you bring it to fulfillment!
May the Lord bless us all with his peace!