Portrait of a Bishop

Respecting and praying for our bishops  

Titus 1:1-9  

          For this reason I left you in Crete so that you might set right what remains to be done and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you, on condition that a man be blameless, married only once, with believing children who are not accused of licentiousness or rebellious. For a bishop as God’s steward must be blameless, not arrogant, not irritable, not a drunkard, not aggressive, not greedy for sordid gain, but hospitable, a lover of goodness, temperate, just, holy, and self-controlled, holding fast to the true message as taught so that he will be able both to exhort with sound doctrine and to refute opponents.   

          Bishops often get short-shrift in the Catholic Church. They don’t get the respect they deserve. And this starts with small children. Several years ago, I asked my little nephew if he’d like to be a priest, and he immediately answered: “No way! I want to be the pope!” I said, “Don’t we all??” And sometimes people say to me, “Fr. John, we think you’ll be a bishop someday.” And I always shake my head and say: “Good Lord, I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy!” It’s a very, very hard and thankless job.   

          Here in our church offices we have a conference room called “The Bishops’ Room,” where we display the portraits of all the Arkansas bishops going all the way back to Bishop Byrne, the first bishop of Arkansas. Now, interestingly, along the opposite wall from the bishops are all the pastor of this parish, going all the way back to Fr. Lawrence Smyth, our first pastor. Sometimes, I imagine them facing each other like the famous “Shoot-out at the O.K. Corral” – bishops versus the pastors, staring each other down. When you look carefully at the size, structure and style of our church, you’ll notice it’s built suspiciously like a “rival cathedral” to the one in Little Rock. Hmmm. Of course, today in heaven, those past pastors and beloved bishops walk arm-in-arm, sipping scotch and laughing at such silliness. They’re probably laughing at this homily.   

          In the first reading from Titus, we see why bishops get such a bad rap. It’s all St. Paul’s fault! He takes all the fun out of being a bishop. Listen to his downright dour description of the qualities of a bishop. He writes to Titus, who was one of the very first bishops in the Church, saying: “For a bishop as God’s steward must be blameless, not arrogant, not irritable, not a drunkard, not aggressive, not greedy for sordid gain, but hospitable, a lover of goodness, just, holy, and self-controlled.” But wait, that’s not all, Paul keeps going: “He should hold fast to the true message as taught so that he will be able both to exhort with sound doctrine and to refute opponents.” By the way, when Paul says “refute opponents” means refute the pastors of Immaculate Conception Church. But can you see how Paul takes all the fun out of being a bishop? No wonder my nephew wanted to be the pope – at least the pope gets a cool airplane and to travel the world.   

          Of course, I’m saying all this tongue-in-cheek. I have the utmost respect for bishops, especially our own bishop, and I ask you to pray unceasingly for them, because they need our prayers, not our complaints and criticisms. You know, every bishop has to fulfill 3 basic tasks: he must be “priest,” “prophet,” and “king,” and that’s no small thing. That is, as a priest he must celebrate the sacraments with seriousness and devotion, helping people feel the presence of God in the sacramental symbols of bread and wine, of baptismal water, of wedding rings, of funeral incense. As a prophet he must proclaim with courage and conviction the whole gospel message, not just the part that pleases the people, not just the part you and I like to hear. He must proclaim the gospel regardless of whether it sounds conservative or liberal, traditional or progressive. And as king he must shepherd God’s people making wise decisions for the good of the whole diocese, indeed for the good of the whole Church.  Not a very easy job.

          These three tasks are called the three “munera” which is Latin and means “offices” of a bishop: “munus sactificandi” (priest), “munus docendi” (prophet) and “munus regendi” (king). These three munera mean that each bishop represents Jesus Christ in the midst of the people. Of course, that’s not nearly as cool as having your own airplane and traveling the world.   

          Praised be Jesus Christ!