Blessed Easter and Season of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! As St. Paul reminds us in I Cor 15:19, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all.” For indeed Jesus is risen, conquering sin and even death itself, and that changes everything! We live no longer for ourselves and for this life only, but we live for God and in union with Him that we might share in His Resurrection by living eternally in Heaven. Now that is worth living (and dying) for!
Right before Lent, I went on my annual retreat with a group of 10 other bishops for an eight-day silent retreat. During that time, I reviewed my notes from my retreat of July 2020, right before being ordained our bishop. A beautiful image from that retreat that I have held onto is being “in the River” and moving gently along with the current. For me, this image is not a “going with the flow and status quo” rather, it is reminding myself to stay immersed in relationship with God and move with Him and in the direction He wants. It is the River of Life (Rv 22:1) that keeps us in the grace and will of God, instead of fighting against Him. If we are honest with ourselves, sometimes we do try kicking against the current and exhaust ourselves doing things our own way, instead of trusting in God. When this happens, we are in good company. Even Jesus prayed thus in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Father let this cup pass me by, but not my will, may yours be done.” (Mt 26:39) Jesus “stayed in the River” trusting the Father to lead Him in the right direction — and indeed it led Him through the Passion to the Resurrection.
Why am I sharing all of this today? Because in my prayer journal from July 2020, I also wrote how my deepest desire was to lead the faithful of Southeast Texas to the River of Life. To recognize that Romans 8:28 is that place of trust in the Lord as we strive to live in His will and in loving relationship with Him on a daily basis: “For those who love God, all things work together for the good.” Just think how amazing our world would be if we all desired to live in God’s will — to allow our lives to flow in the direction of His will. That is my prayer for all of us, to foster a loving trust in God through daily prayer and surrender to the Father’s will for our lives. As we pray every day in the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy will be done!”
As I mentioned, my desire as your new bishop was to lead the diocese to the River of Life. Little did I know that three days after being ordained bishop, I would actually lead all of us to the River, the Neches River. We prayed together for Hurricane Laura to dissipate and to protect our loved ones and homes. That was a moment of grace for all of us, but my hope is that, as our bishop, I continue to lead us to grow in holiness, in prayerful relationship with our loving God and in trustful surrender to His will so that we can stay in the river and allow our lives to flow with God’s grace and will. These are the “restful waters” of Psalm 23 where the Good Shepherd wants to lead each of us.