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of Homily by The Most Reverend John J. Myers at Evening Prayers October 8, 2001 My warm personal greetings to His Eminence Cardinal McCarrick, immediate past Archbishop of Newark, who honors us with his presence, to Bishop Bootkoski, Archbishop Gerety, and the other auxiliary bishops, bishops of the Province and my bishop friends who join us, to all the priests and diocesan officials, Sr. Thomas Mary and Msgr. Groncki of the Committee, and the religious and laity of the Archdiocese of Newark, my dear friends and you whom I hope will become my friends. We gather in prayer at a time of suffering and sorrow. Across this metropolitan area and in most every parish of this great Archdiocese life has been violated, families have been violated, our nation has been violated. Even as we pray for the dead, our hearts go out to their families, friends and loved ones who remain. I am very grateful and proud of the priests, pastoral workers and diocesan staff who have reached out in love to those who suffer and who will readily continue to do so. I have not come here easily but, certainly, I have come here willing to undertake the call which God has given me through Pope John Paul II. In our vocation promotion programs in the Diocese of Peoria we have always taught the boys and young men and girls and young women a very simple prayer as they seek God’s Will in their lives: "Lord, help me to want to be what You want me to be." With this simple prayer a person is seeking God’s Will in his or her life. One of my priests recast it for those who are already ordained, "Lord help me to want to be what I am." My prayer during the weeks since the Holy Father announced my appointment to become Archbishop of Newark has been simple, "Lord, help me to be what you have called me to be." The Lord has answered my prayer. I want to serve you here in the Archdiocese of Newark as the Archbishop which the Lord, through the action of the Holy Father, has called me to be. I am very confident that, together, we will continue to seek the Lord’s Will. The scripture reading chosen for this evening has been of great comfort to me throughout my life and, especially in recent weeks. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" "Who will separate us from the love of Christ?" If our focus is simply and completely on Jesus Christ and His love for us and His power over sin and death, then we need not fear. As the Holy Father has repeatedly reminded us, "We need not be afraid." One of the pastors whom I served as Associate Pastor in the Diocese of Peoria spoke on his first Sunday in the parish. He told a simple story. An old cowboy was sitting on the porch at the edge of town as a young cowboy rode into town. The young cowboy asked, "What kind of people will I find here?" The old cowboy responded, "What kind of people did you find in the last town?" And the young man quickly answered, "I found them distrustful, antagonistic, self-seeking, and in general not very pleasant people." Then the old cowboy said, "I suspect that is the kind of people you will find here." A short time later another young cowboy rode his horse into town and stopped in front of the old man. "What kind of people will I find here?" he asked. Again, the old man inquired, "What kind of people did you find in the last town?" "Oh, I found them to be very friendly, very helpful, generous, and in general very good people." "Well," the old cowboy said, "I suspect that is the kind of people you will find in this town." This simple story contains a very human truth. We tend to find what we are looking for and expecting. We tend to create our own situation. I know that as I have thought and prayed during these recent weeks, and as I have experienced and worked with a number of individuals here in the Archdiocese of Newark, I have not been surprised to find them to be kind, understanding, considerate, honest, and helpful. I expect that this is just the tip of the iceberg. It is my great hope and expectation that we will grow in mutual respect, admiration, and love. A few days ago I was visiting with a woman at the Port Authority Temporary Headquarters. She said something which struck me as very wise. She said, "Archbishop, I understand that you are coming from the Midwest into a new and different situation. But, you know we are all in a new and different situation, too. Maybe we have more in common than we once imagined!" And I thought, "She is right. We are all in this new situation together!" What kind of Archbishop will I be? You will be the judge of that over the years. The Lord Himself will be the final judge. But He will be with us and helping us along the way. My pastoral agenda in Peoria was very simple. I think that we are all called to holiness, -- clergy, religious, and lay persons alike. This must be based on a personal and ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ, especially with His continuing presence in the Blessed Sacrament. We need to take time with Him and for Him. I believe that we must love the Church in all its richness and in all its aspects. Neither anger nor indifference toward the Church offer the fruit of charity. Nor do vocations nor solidly based family life flow from anger or from indifference. We need to love the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church and our Mother. She, St. Joseph, and all of the saints are very much engaged with us in the Communion of Saints and can and do offer remarkable and even dramatic assistance at those times when we need their intercession. I believe that we need to have high expectations, not only of ourselves, but of everyone, including the young. We do not seve young people well by lowering our expectations of them, because all of us, whatever our age, are called to holiness. This includes truly embracing the Will of God in our lives, but also seeking excellence in our human undertakings. It will also include valuing a very high vision of marriage as well as of priesthood and religious life. It is in this vein that I have welcomed new movements and the deep stirrings of consecrated life into the Diocese of Peoria and that I hope to continue Cardinal McCarrick’s policy here in the Archdiocese of Newark. I believe that the Holy Spirit is doing deep and wonderful things in the hearts of people and in the life of the Church. We need, always with discernment and judgment, to cast our nets wide so that many persons can be invited into the Family of God and be touched by the action of the Holy Spirit. I believe that these new stirrings are calling us to a deeper interior life. The Cardinals of the Church at their meeting last spring stated that the search for holiness and the call to holiness are at the heart of the evangelization which must be undertaken in this new millennium. I very much believe that. I will say so tomorrow afternoon in the homily at Mass. I look forward to serving with the Auxiliary Bishops and the priests of the Archdiocese of Newark for whom I already have a growing respect and affection. I look forward to getting to know them and to spending time not only with them, but also with all of the seminarians in the diocese. And I look forward to becoming acquainted with the leadership and the staff at Seton Hall University as well as the other colleges, with the deacons, consecrated women and men religious and collaborators in the Archdiocese and to come to appreciate even more the rich variety of people and programs which constitute the apostolate in this particular Church. Sometimes, it will come as no surprise to you to learn that bishops receive criticism about priests. Often when this would happen in the past, I would agree with the person that, "You certainly deserve better priests. Even more, you deserve a better bishop. But, wouldn’t you agree, we also deserve better people?" After all, we do not live in a perfect world. The Lord has given us one another. It is for us to learn to love one another and to serve one another and to serve our sisters and brothers in the counties of this great Archdiocese. It is for us to prepare the way for those who follow. This will not be primarily in terms of money or of buildings or of programs, even though each of that has its place. Rather, we search for a deeper and livelier faith and for solid family life and a richer life in the parishes and institutions of the Archdiocese. In living our lives well as members of the Church and as members of this society, we can truly help build a more human culture, a civilization of love. Nos corresponde a nosotros preparar el camino para los que vendrán detrás. Esto no será principalmente cuestión de dinero, edificios o programmas, aunque cada uno de ellos tendrá su lugar. Mas bien buscamos una fe más honda y viva, una vida de familia más sólida y una vida de las parróquias e instituciones de esta Archidiócesis más rica. Viviendo bien nuestras vidas como miembros de la Iglesia y de la sociedad, podemos verdaderamente ayudar a construir una cultura más humana, una civilización de amor. As the Lord said to St. Peter and the other Apostles, quoted regularly by our Holy Father, "Duc in altum." Set out into the deep. Set out with hope. We can be and must be a people of hope. "For I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor powers, neither height nor depth nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus, our Lord."
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