November 20, 2020

For The Good

November is the month in which we say thank you! My heart is filled with gratitude for so much: the gift of God in my life, the Church that Jesus gave us, my particular calling to be a priest and now a bishop, the gift of my dear parents and a loving family, the support of friends, and most recently, my deep gratitude for you: the faithful of Southeast Texas, the priests and personnel and volunteers who serve the Diocese of Beaumont and have made me feel so welcome in my first three months. So thank you all!!!!

Earlier this month, I spoke to our Parish Catechetical Leaders during their virtual annual gathering, and so today’s column is a variation on that presentation. But before that, it is good for all of us to say thank you to those who are handing on the beauty of our Catholic faith to our young people: catechists, Catholic school teachers, youth ministers, and first and foremost to parents and family where the faith is hopefully and initially handed on. These days of the Corona Virus have not made it any easier, and I consider all of them heroes for creatively and innovatively working so hard to share the gift of faith with our young people.

The Latin phrase lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi can be interpreted as: the way we pray (orandi) is the way we believe (credendi) is the way we live (vivendi)!

So first of all, orandi, the way we pray. During COVID-19, there is a huge danger of being removed from public worship for these past nine months. While acknowledging that the virus is real and that those with underlying conditions need to err on the side of caution, our parishes are operating in an amazing way both by their protocols and their availability to minister to those in need. While I want to continue to encourage attending live-streamed Masses for those unable to attend, I also want to encourage our parishioners that when possible we should be attending Mass. My now famous line is, “If you can get to HEB for groceries, you can get to church and get fed!” The Eucharist is the “source and summit” of our spiritual lives. In a post-pandemic world, we are going to have to make a huge catechetical push on re-teaching the Eucharist. It has become too easy to complacently “attend Mass” in pajamas with a cup of coffee from the bedroom on a Sunday morning (albeit understandable – but it is not enough to carry us long-term). Jesus comes to us in both Word and Sacrament. We need to be fed by the Body of Christ in Holy Communion – an incredible gift Jesus offers us at every Mass! Thus, the way we pray at this time is limping along: minimal participation, little music is possible, the involvement of only a few, and the list could go on. However, the virus is not forever, and keep the faith that we will return at some point as a full community of worshiping believers. But for those who already can return to your parishes, I encourage you to do so – we need to be fed and we need to be in community – not to mention our country and world really need our prayers!

The way we pray affects the way we believe (credendi). Our faith and the way of worship has implications on either strengthening or weakening our faith life. The bottom line for the effectiveness of our worship and teaching is that we are to receive the love of God and in return love Him even more. Let us strive to love Jesus and love the Church He gave us 2,000 years ago, and to love the beautiful and sometimes challenging teachings of our Church and hand them on to our youth in their fullness. Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are the bedrocks of our faith and have formed us as a Catholic community for two millennia, what a treasure!

And if the way we pray affects the way we believe, then it all has ramifications on the way we live our lives (vivendi). We are meant to be leaven of society – truly salt and light changing our world for the good! (cf. Rm 8:28) Our beautiful Catholic Social Teaching shows us how to live Matthew chapter 25 (the Gospel we have been hearing all through November). Mother Teresa modelled this so well for us as she would so often repeat the words of the Gospel: “Whatever you did for the least of these, you did it to me” (Mt. 25:40). Faith is not just for ourselves but meant to be shared and lived and witnessed in the world by the way we live and love. “They will know we are Christians by our Love” (cf. Jn. 13:35).

I believe Southeast Texas has been so positively impacted by our amazing 11 percent Catholic population. We want to see this continue in the years and decades to come; this is the greatest mission of our lives, to make Jesus Christ known and loved in the midst of our society. Let us strive to be missionary disciples in our daily lives on our journey to our heavenly homeland. St. Paul reminds us how God wants to work through us: “The Kingdom of God is not about eating or drinking, but about Justice, Peace, and Joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rm. 14:17). I am so excited, honored, and humbled to be your new bishop. Despite the challenges of today – we are making a difference, and I want to encourage us to never give up hope and to persevere in our mission of sharing our faith in the Diocese of Beaumont.

We have been called, formed, and are now being sent – in other words let’s go deeper into prayer, our profound beliefs, and radically living the Gospel in the world – lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi!!! (To hear more on this topic, follow the link to the original talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP0VeK-K3vs)