ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Your Eminences: Cardinal Keeler and Cardinal Egan,
Your Excellency, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States
and Personal Representative of our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI,
Bishop Edward P. Cullen, until now, faithful and esteemed shepherd
of this Diocese of Allentown,
Brother Bishops,
Bishop-elect John O. Barres, chosen for succession to the See of Allentown,
Dear Priests, Deacons, Religious, Seminarians and Lay Faithful of Allentown,
Beloved family of Bishop-elect Barres,
Representatives of the Diocese of Wilmington,
Esteemed Civic Officials and Ecumenical and Interreligious Guests,
Friends in our Lord Jesus Christ,

This is a day of thanksgiving and joy for the Diocese of Allentown and for the whole Church. Blessed be God!

We give deep thanks today to God our Father, who through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Spirit, has provided for this local Church, since its beginning in 1961, through the dedicated care of zealous and faithful Bishops, pastors of the flock, who have proclaimed God’s word and have each exercised the role of “appointed preacher and Apostle and teacher.”

In a special way we give thanks this afternoon for the generous and dedicated ministry of Bishop Cullen, who has shepherded this Diocese in Catholic unity for the last eleven and a half years in the name of the one Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Bishop Cullen, the People of God—priests, deacons, consecrated women and men, and laity—are all grateful for your service in the Gospel and for your pastoral love. We express to you once again deep appreciation.

The thanksgiving of this Diocese expresses itself now in deep joy. His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has named a new Pastor for Allentown, whom the ecclesial community embraces with respect and love.

Bishop-elect Barres, you assume your role by apostolic mandate and present yourself in Catholic continuity with those who have labored before you in the Gospel, up until this very moment. With the intuition of their faith, all the members of the Church know why you have come. They are waiting for your shepherd’s love and care, and they welcome you! They know that you will accompany and lead them in their pilgrimage of faith.

At this time it is appropriate to reflect briefly on the meaning of your new office. What is your role to be now as a Bishop of the Church of God? Certainly the inspired word of God proclaimed this afternoon in the Sacred Scriptures will give us all deep insights in understanding why you have been sent and what it is that you come to do here in the Diocese of Allentown.

In our first reading the Prophet Isaiah speaks words that are verified fully only in the person of Jesus Christ, who can say: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the brokenhearted ....”

At the same time we know that the Lord Jesus chose His apostles and their successors to assist Him in carrying on the work for which He came into the world: “to bring glad tidings to the lowly and to heal the brokenhearted.” This then is to be an important part of your ministry.

The Second Vatican Council has a very beautiful and incisive passage that shows the link that exists between Christ and His Bishops. It says simply but clearly: “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).

In other words, dear John, you are being ordained to make present in this local Church the Lord Jesus Himself. You are to do this through the holy word of God and through the Sacraments of the Church, and also through the love and kindness that will emanate from your sacred person, now to be sacramentally transformed to the highest level of the priesthood of Jesus Christ. On his part Pope John Paul II called every Bishop to strive to be “a living sign of Jesus Christ,” manifesting to everyone the love, mercy and compassion of the Savior. To be equipped to do this you will need the Spirit of the Lord God, whom you are about to receive. And the good news that you will proclaim as a Bishop to the lowly—to all those willing to embrace it—is the saving power of Christ’s Death and Resurrection, that ocean of mercy that is able to wash away the sins of the world. With Saint Paul you will constantly proclaim “Christ Jesus our hope” (1 Tim 1:1).

This will be the substance of your shepherding: making present in this local Church the Supreme High Priest, Jesus Christ. But, dear John, in this sacred task, you will always need to be assisted by your priests as your first collaborators. They must mean everything to you, for without them your ministry cannot be fulfilled, and without you their call to holiness and mission is incomplete. This close collaboration in faith and love will render effective that further partnership in the Gospel with your deacons and all the people of God, religious and lay. The Bishop is then at the service of the holiness and mission of all the members of the entire local Church as father, brother and friend, beginning with his priests.

This is indeed a demanding task, but precisely for this reason we listen carefully to the words of the Apostle Paul, who in our second reading proclaims: “God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control.” Truly the Spirit of the Lord God whom you receive today will be with you always.

Bishop-elect John: The People of God are here to celebrate in thanksgiving and in joy. But also, in expectation. By your sacred anointing today as a Bishop you are receiving a special power: to make present, with your priests, Jesus Christ in the midst of the faithful. How demanding how fulfilling, how exhilarating a mission! But it can only be fully accomplished in holiness of life. As you know, holiness and mission go together. And so the people of God are asking you to continue to pursue holiness of life in order to be a living sign of Jesus Christ.

As my final word to you today, I draw your attention to that phrase in the Gospel that you chose for this ordination ceremony—those words that Jesus spoke to His Father about His disciples and about those who through His disciples would come to believe in Him. He said: “I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.” Just as Christ and His Church consecrate you, John, for a great mission demanding the total giving of yourself for the People of God, I know that you ratify this consecration of yourself, repeating Jesus’ words to His Father: “I consecrate myself for them.” In this way your mission will indeed be fulfilled in holiness of life, and you will be empowered, with your priests, to make Jesus Christ present in all who believe. Then together with the entire flock you will offer Jesus Christ to the world, bringing glad tidings to the lowly and healing to all the brokenhearted.

And in the days and months and years ahead, may you experience always the closeness of our Blessed Mother, Mary most holy, Queen of Apostles. Amen.