Posted on 10/10/2001 5:16:52 AM PDT by ELS
NEWARK, Oct. 9 — In a ceremony marked by solemn ritual and somber reflection on terrorism, John Joseph Myers, a native of Illinois farm country and now a 60- year-old theological conservative, was installed today as the fifth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark.
Archbishop Myers, named by the Vatican to the post in July, devoted his first homily here to a recital of the orthodox views that have won him some national attention and prompted a few jitters among moderates in the archdiocese. He mentioned Roman Catholic teaching on marriage, abortion and euthanasia, and made oblique references to science, technology and sexuality.
But the new archbishop tempered his personal joy in the occasion by remembering the thousands killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
"We gather in a time of great national sorrow," he told an overflow crowd of more than 2,000 at Sacred Heart Cathedral. "People's lives have been violated. Our families have been violated. Our nation has been rocked by these attacks, which have struck at the way of life of most nations of the world."
He admonished his audience to pray for the dead, pledged that the archdiocese would "stand with the bereaved," and said he grieved in particular for the children who had lost parents in the attacks.
"We commend to the Lord's special care," he said, "our president, national leaders, and military women and men who are even now seeking justice to preserve free and open lives for the people not only in the United States but for people all over the world."
Archbishop Myers, a canon lawyer and a staunch ally of Pope John Paul II, took the helm of an archdiocese that is a mix of wealthy suburban communities and troubled urban neighborhoods — a far cry from the prairies where he has spent most of his life.
He was raised on a farm near Earlville, Ill., the eldest of seven children. As a boy he did farmyard chores while his parents, Jack and Margaret, ran a family dairy business. He was ordained in 1966 at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, and spent most of his religious career in the Diocese of Peoria, where he has been bishop since 1990.
The Newark archdiocese, established in 1853, is the Catholic Church's smallest archdiocese geographically, encompassing only 511 square miles in Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union Counties. Yet its 1.3 million Catholics, a racially and ethnically diverse group, make it the seventh-largest in population.
Archbishop Myers succeeds Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, who led the archdiocese for 14 years before the pope elevated him to archbishop of Washington last November. Cardinal McCarrick attended today's installation with three other cardinals, Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadelphia; James Hickey, archbishop emeritus of Washington; and Bernard Law of Boston. Cardinal Edward Egan of New York was unable to attend; he is in Rome for a monthlong conference of the church's Synod of Bishops. Also taking part were about 60 archbishops and bishops from around the country and 300 priests and deacons from archdiocese and dioceses in New Jersey and New York. Their processional down the cathedral's center aisle lasted about 35 minutes as choral and organ music resounded off the granite walls and soaring arched ceilings.
In his homily, Archbishop Myers recalled how his parents provided an "environment of love and trust" and told his audience that "we are members of the family of God." By welcoming church teaching and allowing it to "grow more deeply within us, we can live as the people God truly wishes us to be."
He then listed several of the church's traditional tenets.
"We are a people who value, protect and promote human life from its very beginning — even in embryonic form — to its natural end because God values it and wants us to do so," he said. He called marriage a lifelong commitment between a man and woman willing to produce children. He said human sexuality must be practiced according to "its God-given purpose," though he did not elaborate.
"Technology and science, which refer only to their own principles," he said, "often fail to follow limits required by the larger and deeper vision of the human person." As with his reference to sexuality, the archbishop did not offer specifics.
He said prayer, adoration and petition would allow people to deepen their interior lives as children of God. "As we do so, our daily lives will be refashioned and enriched. As we are transformed, our everyday actions will take on deeper meaning and human culture itself will be purified, enriched and ennobled."
There's no other way to say it. The Times sucks.
But since they're calling him a "conservative," he can't be too bad.
a native of Illinois farm country and now a 60- year-old theological conservative
Don't they mean liberals? What is this moderate crapola?
Godspeed to the Archbishop from this Eastern Orthodox.
...60- year-old theological conservative
I prefer "theologically orthodox." Don't let them try to divide the Church with "Liberal/Conservative." In religion, there's only orthodox, unorthodox, or speculative.
Even when I was young, our family lived in a rural area in the northeast corner of the Diocese of Peoria in Illinois. We were a large family and so we had one of those large old wooden tables so that we could all be seated together for meals. At that time and place most of our meals were eaten as a family. We each had our customary place at the table. (If you wanted to get action going early, you could sit in someone else’s place!)
Food was plentiful and good. There was a lot of visiting and teasing. The family togetherness and the environment of love and trust were really of the greatest importance.
Only in later years would we realize that all of that goodness was rooted in our parents’ love for one another, in their marriage in Christ, in their generosity and openness to children, in their faithfulness in good times and bad, and in their hard work which is always involved in raising a family. And these virtues and qualities of theirs were purified, strengthened and expanded by the grace of God which nourished their own individual lives and our common life.
When we speak of a deeper relationship with God, we speak of an expanded and intensified interior relationship, nurtured by prayer, the sacraments and holy scripture, which then takes expression in the way we live, especially in our relationships with others and with the world. We speak, then, of the holiness to which we are all called.
The holy scriptures proclaimed in today’s Eucharist remind us that we are members of the Family of God.
God started to form His family long before the time of Jesus. The reading from Deuteronomy recounts the great actions by which God called the patriarchs and then how he stretched out His arms in power to remove an oppressed people from the midst of the mighty Egyptian empire, formed them into a renewed people and gave them aland of their own. God’s unique love called forth a loving response from them and they, in turn, developed a culture founded on that relationship and enriching human life in ways that touched all of history.
The sacred author asks, "Has anything so great ever happened before?" God had greater yet in His plan.
God entered more deeply into human history – unimaginably so – when God the Son was incarnate in Jesus Christ. Jesus was born into that people formed by God, but He utterly transformed their faith, their lives, their own culture, and all of human history. He lived and taught, He loved and served and healed and finally was rejected and executed on a cross.
But He rose victorious. God wanted to continue to form His family, but now through Jesus Christ.
That is what we learn from the magnificent conclusion to St. Matthew’s Gospel account. The eleven disciples went to the mountain indicated. They saw Jesus. They adored Him. They knew doubt. Then Jesus took over.
"All power in heaven and earth has been given to me."
A startling claim of something already accomplished.
Those who would attribute the Christian claim to overzealous theology must take this and many other clear affirmations from the foundational period into account.
"Go make disciples of all nations... baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...teach them to observe all that I have commanded you."
In that challenge and mission – in the present for them and in the present for us - Christ sent the Church forth entrusted with His word and not its own.
Through Jesus, God would invite the entire human family to join His family. We are invited into the intimate life of the Blessed Trinity. Our God is not only personal, He is a community of persons.
Focused on this transforming relationship which profoundly underscores the value of every person a great dynamic has been established which can touch and transform each human heart, each human life, each human culture, and the human family as well.
If we welcome the Word as entrusted to the Church and allow (even encourage) it to grow more deeply within us we can live as the people God truly wishes us to be.
A) We are a people who value, protect and promote human life from its very beginning - even in the embryonic form - to its natural end because God values it and wants us to do so. We care for the powerless and the weak, as evidenced by Catholic Community Services and so many groups in this Archdiocese and, really, in every diocesan church around the country and around the world.
B) We welcome human knowledge in all its many forms and need never fear the truth for ours is the God of truth and source of all. We note here in this Archdiocese Seton Hall University, the other local colleges and universities and the deep commitment of the Church to schools throughout the world to aid in this human quest.
C) We consider human sexuality differently, according to its God-given purpose.
D) We consider marriage a mutual self-gift and mutual commitment between a man and a woman for life, open to children, and made possible by the grace of God even in the midst of human difficulty. Yet, we renew our commitment to offer support and assistance to our sisters and brothers who are affected by failed marriages or find themselves in an abusive situation of any kind.
E) We know God to be the Lord of Life and Death – and not ourselves. We strive to live humbly, uprightly, and justly as His children in this wonderful universe He has entrusted to us. We are happy to underscore our commitment to Cathedral Healthcare and the other excellent Catholic healthcare institutions in the Archdiocese.
F) Technology and all human activity is to be enlivened and directed by this Gospel-supported vision. Technology and science which refer only to their own principles often fail to follow limits required by the larger and deeper vision of the human person.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed as it is entrusted to His Church does not shackle human freedom, it is not an obstacle to human life. It is, rather, a grace which enhances and enriches them and, perhaps most of all as a gift from the God who reveals Himself, roots the human endeavor including each culture in the fundamental truths about our existence and our transcendent destiny while remaining peacefully open to the future.
G) We are a people who know that God is the source of all the good things in our lives. I am pleased that the Archdiocese of Newark has embraced Stewardship as a way of life! Stewardship is not just some program that is executed and then runs it course. Stewardship is a powerful vehicle for conversion. Stewardship as a way of life can transform individuals, parish communities and entire dioceses. I am encouraged with the progress made in Newark so far, and I pledge to support this important mission as I begin my days as your shepherd.
As the Archdiocese looks forward to celebrating our 150th Anniversary in 2003 and the 50th Anniversary of the completion of the Cathedral in 2004, I look forward to working with the bishops, priests, and people to find appropriate vehicles for our celebrations. Surely, continued care for those who are suffering from our recent tragedies will be part of our commitment.
Yet, like those early disciples we might doubt or know fear when confronted with this great, God-given mission.
Jesus' words are for us, too. "Behold, I am with you until the end of the age."
We are not left alone as either the human family or the family of God.
St. Paul reminds us of this wonder in the second reading, "I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you. This is my body which is for you. This cup is God’s covenant in my blood. Do this in memory of me." "As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes."
The Holy Eucharist makes present Jesus’ loving and obedient death for us – His complete self-surrender to the Father’s will. This very action is present at every Mass and His presence is continued in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Jesus is present for us.
We would do well to imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary, Patroness of this Archdiocese, who was present throughout Jesus’ life to the foot of the cross and beyond. She embraced God’s will for her Son, for herself, and invites us to do so in our turn.
We are invited to be children of God, growing ever-more-deeply in our interior lives of prayer, adoration, and petition. As we do so, our daily lives will be refashioned and enriched. As we are transformed, our everyday actions will take on deeper meaning and human culture itself will be purified, enriched, and ennobled.
Nos ayudarà mucho si imitamos a la Bienaventurada Virgen Maria, Patrona de esta Archidiocesis, que estuvo presente durante toda la vida de Jesús hasta mas allà del pie de la Cruz. Ella abrazó la voluntad de Diós por su Hijo y por Ella y nos invíta a hacer lo mismo por nuestra parte.
Estamos invitados a ser hijos de Diós, creciendo cada vez mas intensamente en nuestra vida interiór de oración y petición. Si así hacemos, nuestras vidas se reharàn y enriqueceràn. Y al ser transformados, nuestras acciones de cada dia adquiriràn un significadomas profundo y la misma cultura humana se purificará, enriquecerá y será ennoblecida.
C’aiuterà molto se noi imitiamo la Benedetta Virgine Maria, Patronessa di questa Arcidiocesi che era presente in tutta la vita di Gesù al piede della croce e oltre. Lei ha abbracciato la voluntà di Dio per suo Figlio, per lei stessa e c’invita a fare lo stesso nella nostra parte.
Siamo invitati a essere figli di Dio, sempre crescendo più profondamente nella nostra vita interna di preghiera, adorazione e petizione. Se noi facciamo così, le nostre vite quotidiane saranno rimodernate e saranno arricchite. Come noi siamo trasformati, le nostre azioni di ogni giorno assumeranno significato più profondo e la cultura umana stessa sarà purificata, sarà arricchita e si sarà nobilitata.
We are the family of God. Let us gather around our family table - which is the altar of sacrifice – and find our nourishment unto eternal life.
There is no such thing as a liberal, moderate or conservative Catholic. There is "catholic" with no modifier, and then there is "not catholic".
Having said that, when one is Catholic one must accept positions, some of which seem liberal (no death penalty in modern states and no utilitarian social policies) and some of which seem conservative (no abortion, no remarriage, hierarchical church). Generally speaking, a true Catholic holds traditional moral views on most issues. Which is why true Catholics are labeled by the labelers as conservative. Thus there can be no authentic Catholic who could ever be labeled "liberal" by the labelers since thier paradigm is so skewed.
And to make it even more confusing, true Catholics must be classical liberals (in the tradition of free-market advocate Lord Acton), a category of thinkers that modern liberals hate.
AB
Bump for closer reading tonight . . .
patent
I hope this sentence isn't indicative of the accuracy of the story. The archdiocese contains plenty of untroubled urban neighborhoods---the beautiful Forest Hill section of Newark, e.g., with million-dollar mansions---and towns that are not wealthy and suburban but lovely, peaceful middle-class places to live. Typical rich-and-poor stuff from the NY Times.
Accuracy has been trumped by ideology in their reporting for a long time.
I had the privilege of meeting our new Archbishop last week. What a cool guy!
He said human sexuality must be practiced according to "its God-given purpose," though he did not elaborate. "Technology and science, which refer only to their own principles," he said, "often fail to follow limits required by the larger and deeper vision of the human person." As with his reference to sexuality, the archbishop did not offer specifics.
This "didn't offer specifics" stuff cracks me up ... =)
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