ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Dear brother Bishops and Priests,
Dear Deacons, Religious, Seminarians,
Dear Faithful People of this Archdiocese of Philadelphia,
Dear Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Guests,
Dear Family Members of Bishop-Elect Cistone and Bishop-Elect McFadden,
And especially you, dear Brothers to be raised to the Episcopacy

            Today is a day of great joy because the Church in Philadelphia is ready to receive her two new Auxiliary Bishops: Joseph Robert Cistone and Joseph Patrick McFadden.

            Both of these men have grown up in this local Church of Philadelphia. Both have served in the parishes of this Archdiocese. Both have been close to our people; they are known and loved by our people because they have joyfully and generously served as their priests. Both of them have been blessed by having loving parents, and both have come from families of faith. Consequently, they feel very much at home throughout the Archdiocese in any family that welcomes them.

            Both are close to their fellow priests, and in so many ways have helped and supported and sustained their brothers both by their friendship and through the special ministries they have exercised over the years. Both have come from the fabric of this presbyterate and can thoroughly identify with the hopes and aspirations and challenges of the priesthood as it is lived in the situation of Philadelphia priests.

            Both of these men know and love and have many links with the consecrated religious of this local Church.

            Both of them have assisted my predecessors in a spirit of intelligent and selfless collaboration, always faithful to the mission of the Church, always ready to support the Ordinary in his own many responsibilities.

            And now both have been chosen by our Holy Father, the Successor of Peter, for the pastoral office of Auxiliary Bishop, sharing in the Episcopate of our Lord Jesus Christ.

            Guided by the teaching of the Church, we know that the call of Pope John Paul II expresses and externalizes in the Church a deeper divine call that comes from God Himself.

            In our sacred liturgy today, we reflect on the word of God that presents the vocation of the prophet Jeremiah. We see various elements in the prophet s vocation that apply to every ecclesial vocation and, therefore, to the vocation of Bishop Cistone and Bishop McFadden. God s words to Jeremiah fill them and us with confidence and trust: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I appointed you. And again God says: To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. Have no fear before them, because I am with you ....

            But what is this office of Bishop, this ministry of the Episcopacy which these two brothers of ours are about to receive?

            It is the Priesthood of Jesus Christ exercised at its highest level. It means being a successor of the apostles, a member of the College of Bishops, sharing with the Successor of Peter, and under him, responsibility for the whole Church. It involves the pastoral mission to teach, to sanctify and to govern the Church. It is a special sharing in the role of Jesus Christ Himself, who in the power of the Holy Spirit proclaims the Gospel to His people. The Episcopacy fulfills the role of making Jesus Christ present in the Church. Vatican II explains this beautifully, never separating the Bishop and the priests, when it says: In the Bishops, whom the priests assist, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Supreme High Priest, is present in the midst of those who believe (Lumen Gentium, 21).

            The Bishop is likewise the guardian and servant of the greatest treasures and values of the Church s life. He is the chief celebrant of the Eucharistic sacrifice in which the Gospel reaches its supreme and sacramental proclamation. In exercising his role in the Eucharist and in transmitting the power to celebrate the Eucharist in the Sacrament of Holy Orders, the Bishop safeguards the purpose of the Eucharist, which is to renew the death and resurrection of the Lord so that sins may be forgiven.

            In our second reading, Saint Paul tells us that all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, ... entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors of Christ, as if God were appealing through us.

            With Saint Paul, the Bishop has a special responsibility constantly to work for the unity of the Church, calling for reconciliation the reconciliation of individuals with God through the Sacrament of Penance, the reconciliation of families and all those who in one way or another are alienated from each other or from Christ and His Church.

            After your ordination, dear Brothers, you will exercise a ministry of evangelization through teaching and through sanctifying, and this ministry will be completely directed to communicating Jesus Christ to others. In doing so, your constant efforts will be to promote the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist.

            As Auxiliary Bishops, your ministry will also be one of intimate partnership with me, with Bishop Maginnis and Bishop Burbidge in the overall pastoral governance of the Archdiocese, in continuity with the many faithful Auxiliary Bishops who have preceded you, in particular, Bishop Lohmuller and Bishop DeSimone. You will be ministering throughout the entire territory of the Archdiocese. In addition, you will be associated in service to various clusters of our parishes, striving with the Regional Vicars to be close to the priests and people of God in the many challenges that they face in our parishes.

            Your episcopal ministry will also see you closely involved in different areas of archdiocesan organizations and activities, all of which serve the Church' s mission and touch people' s lives. The multiple services that the Archdiocese strives to offer in the name of Jesus to children, families, the young and the old, the disabled, those in need will all be part of the pastoral care that, as Bishops, you will give to God s people.

            As you know there are many important works of the Archdiocese underway. There are special challenges present in maintaining and reinforcing the Church s services in many areas of evangelization. As Auxiliary Bishops you will intimately share in all of this, as in all other aspects of the Church s life.

            This coming October, in response to the call of Pope John Paul II to the whole Church, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia will inaugurate the Year of the Eucharist. This will be a pastoral endeavor of supreme importance directed to renewing our local Church in Eucharistic faith and in holiness of life. Dear brother Bishops, your participation in this and in other pastoral endeavors will be key.

            Through your Episcopal Ordination, the Church introduces you to a new level of communion and collaboration with the laity and with your brother priests, the deacons and all those in consecrated life. At a new level, while remaining their brothers in Baptism and the priesthood, you are for all the faithful ambassadors of Christ as God appeals and works through you and your sacramental ministry of the Episcopacy.

            This brings us, dear brothers, to the very core of your identity as Bishops. You have been chosen by God to exercise in the Church the pastoral role of Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd. Vatican II, as we have seen, says that assisted by the priests, Bishops make him present in the midst of those who believe. You do this through a sacramental gift and through the configuration of your own lives to that of Jesus. The Gospel today gives us enormous insights into how Jesus personally exercises his role as Good Shepherd. This is all summarized in Jesus words: A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ... I am the good shepherd ... and I will lay down my life for the sheep.... This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life .... No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down ....

            Dear brothers, Joseph Cistone and Joseph McFadden, today the Church gives you this power and asks you to exercise it generously, faithfully, joyfully until the end. In doing this, you will give the greatest gift possible to your family, your loved ones and to all the people of God, for you will each be, in the expression of Pope John Paul II, a living sign of Jesus Christ , who expresses to all the love of the Good Shepherd. Remember always what Jesus says: A good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. And remember too, as you strive to live this high ideal, that Mary the Mother of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is close to you with her love and prayers. Amen.