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JANUARY 31. 1936 THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC L AYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA FIVE Bishop O’Hara’s Sermon at the Installation Rights and Responsibilities of Episcopal Office Traced His Excellency Pays Beautiful Tribute to Character and Achievements of Bishop Keyes The Bishop of Savannah In his response at the installa tion Mass at the Cathedral at Sa vannah, Bishop O’Hara paid an eloquent tribute to Bishop Keyes “who leaves behind him a pre cious heritage of Episcopal devo tion”, outlined the origin, rights and responsibilities of the Episco pacy, expressed confidence in the loyal support he said he knew the priests and people will give him in his labors, asked God’s richest ■blessings for Georgia and prayed to the Queen of Angels and men ever to “be a mother to, me, and to my priests and people.” Bishop O’Hara’s address follows: “Take heed to yourselves and to the whole flock wherein the Holy Ghost h .th placed you Bishops to rule the Church of God which He hath pur chased with His own blood.” Acts 20:28. May it please your Eminence, Your Excellencies, Rt. Rev., Very Rev., and Rev. Fathers, dearly beloved of the laity. The ceremony of this morning is essentially a simple one and can be explained in a few words. In sub stance it is the formal presentation of his credentials, as required by the Canons of the Church, on the part of the one who has been appointed Bishop of this diocese. BISHOP KEYES LEAVES PRECIOUS HERITAGE The beloved Bishop Keyes, over taken by illness, and no longer able, on account of the condition of his health, to bear the burdens of his office, has seen fit to relinquish them. He has governed this diocese with honor and fruitfulness. Under his leadership and guidance the diocese has grown and religion has flour ished. His labors have been crowned with success and have won for him the deep respect and genuine affec tion of his priests and people. The testimonials of filial love and the ex pressions of keen regret that marked the announcement of his resignation three months ago, tear witness to these facts. Bishop Keyes leaves be hind him a precious heritage of Epis copal devotion, and I know that he will never be forgotten by those to whom he ministered so unselfishly for more than thirteen years. I say unto you dearly beloved in Christ, in the words of St. Paul: “Remember your Prelates who have spoken the word of God to you; whose faith fol low, considering the end of their con versation.” (Heb. 13-7.) Another has come to take up the burdens laid down by Bishop Keyes. Your new Bishop comes, not by Iris own authority nor in his own name. He comes because he has been sent to .you by the highest and most sacred authority on earth, and in the name of the Lord God Himself. The voice of that supreme au thority that I have mentioned you have heard this morning through the Papal documents that were read here. Peter, the Fisherman of Galilee, has spoken through Pius, the Bishop of Rome, and in obedience to that voice, which represents for us and is the voice of Christ. I have come- here today to take up the shepherd’s staff to rule, guide, nourish and protect this portion of the flock of Christ, which, from this day forward, will be dearer to me than life itself. SIMPLE CEREMONY DEEPLY SIGNIFICANT This ceremony, simple though it be in substance, possesses for you and for me, dearly beloved in Christ, the deepest significance. For both of us it is of surpassing importance. It is freighted with grave consequences because it has to do with interests that over-reach time and penetrate eternity, that concern not this world, but the next, and that involve the eternal salvation of immortal souls yours and mine as well. Today’s event is importa t for you inasmuch as you are called upon to receive as your Bishop the one who has been sent to you; to render him religious obedience; to hearken to his voice; to give him the support and comfort of your loyal co-opera tion with him in all that concerns the good of your souls, and the wel fare of the church in this diocese. Conversely, you are given the right today to exact of your Bishop an ever-solicitous care of you in all that concerns your spiritual welfare and the spread of the Kingdom of God in Georgia. For me this ceremony is of the most serious import because it im poses upon me duties and obliga tions of the gravest character. Today I must begin to stand watch and guard over this flock with a vigilance, fortitude and fidelity that dare never be relaxed. Like Timothy, I am charged before God and Jesus Christ. Who will judge the living and the dead by His coming and His King dom, to preach the word of God; to be constant in season and out of sea son; to be vigilant; to labor in all things; to do the wor of an evan gelist, to fulfill my ministry; to show myseK in all things an example of good works in much patience, in sweetness, in the Holy Ghost, in Charity unfeigned, in the word of truth, in the power of God. (2, Tim. 4-). Today, unworthy though I know myself to be, I am given a divine right to exercise that jurisdiction v.hich is proper to and inherent in the Episcopal office, the Episcopate being of divine origin, having been established by Jesus Christ Himself. This jurisdiction is spiritual inas much as it concerns interests that are not of this world; it has to do with immortal souls destined to sur vive time, souls that must be instruct ed and directed in the things of God and fortified in their journey through this world to their true and lasting home beyond the skies. At the same time this jurisdic tion is exercised over all those tem poral things that are necessary for the proper conduct of the Church's religious, charitable and educational work, and no power on earth may lawfully deprive the Church of the right to the free exercise of this lib erty of action. Episcopal jurisdiction must be ex ercised in strict accord with the mind of Christ and of His Church, whose direct concern is the honor and glory of God through the sanctification and salvation of souls. This phrase sums up a Bishop's work, and provides the reason for the jurisdiction that is vested in his person, a power, which, as St. Paul tersely warns, “has been given to us unto edification and not unto destruction.” (II Cc . 13-10.) A Bishop is, like St. Paul, a “ser vant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle, separated unto the Gospel of God.” Separated or segregated unto the Gospel, he is called to a task as difficult as it is sublime, transcending as it does natural modes of thought and merely human ways of acting. A Bishop’s vocation is to teach that Gospel. His office is primarily a teaching office, for to him together with his colleagues in the Episcopate just as to the original Twelve and with the same force now as then, that divine command: “Going there fore teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded vou.” (Matt. 28-19.) The Bishops of the world, in union with the Chief Bishop, the successor of St. Peter, the Vicar of Christ on earth, enjoy the prerogative of infallibility in matters of faith and morals. Collectively they have the special guidance of the Holy Ghost and when as a body they speak as religious teachers their voice is clear, constant and unerring. “As tire Father hath sent Me, I also send you . . . behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.” (Matt. 28-18.) Their voice is the Voice of Clirist, for Christ Himself has said of the Apostles and their Successors: “He that hearetli you, heareth Me, and he that despiseth you, despiseth Me; and he that de spiseth Me, despiseth Him that sent Me.” (Luke 10-16.) BISHOP TEACHER AND DISPENSER OF MYSTERIES The Bishop is not only a teacher who illumines the mind with the pure light of divine truth: he is also a “dispenser of the mysteries of God”. He teaches the observance of all things whatsoever Christ has com manded. Not only does he offer up sacrifice himself, but also, in virtue of the plentitude of priestly power that he possesses, he ordains priests to offer up the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, so that Christ’s command at the Last Supper, after He has insti tuted the Blessed Eucharist, to “do this in commemoration of Me," will be observed until the end of time. He ordains them also to administer the divine Sacraments which purify, strengthen and console the faithful from life's beginning even unto its ending. Being the center of unity in his diocese, the Bishop in his person and in his office binds up his priests and people with the center of w'orld re ligious unity, the Pope of Rome. It is the Bishop who imparts life and vitality to every religious work in his diocese; in union with him it grows and flourishes. Apart from him and separated from him it is doomed to languish and eventually to die as the branch that is cut from the vine. In view of the divine nature of the Episcopal office and the sacred character of its functions, we readi-y understand why an exceedingly high standard of life is demanded of him who holds that of'ice and exercises its functions. If Baptism, for the Chris tian, means a call to exalted virtue, what, think you, must be the heights of virtue that he is called upon to scale who is vested with the very plenitude of holy orders and is made a ruler in the House of Israel? St. Thomas tells us that the Episco pate is the state of religious perfec tion. A Bishop's vocation, therefore, is not only to be proficient in virtue, but to excel in it in order that he may be made a pattern of the flock from the heart.” (Peter 5-3.) BISHOP MUST BE FEARLESS YET GENTLE In their Bishop the flock must be hold the true Paster — the Good Shepherd—so touchingly described by our Lord Himself. The faithful right ly expert him to be a kind father, and a friend and counsellor sympathetic and generous. The Bishop must be a champion of justice and right with out being a taskmaster; gentle, but not indulgent; fearless in proclaiming Tills picture of Bishop O’Hara was taken by Maikiervicz, staff photogra pher of the Baltimore Catholic Review, ar.d appears here through the cour tesy of The Review whose editor, the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Albert E. Smith, LL. D., attended the installation. the truth and in denouncing error and evil, but ready to forgive; alert and quick to sense a moral danger and to warn Iris flock of its approach or presence, yet thoughtful and not has ty in his judgments. Preaching the Gospel to others in season and out of season, he must be the first to take to heart the truths that he proclaims and the first to live by them. Holding the first place in the diocese, he must see in himself one unworthy even of the last; called upon to govern, he must be the first to obey; a ruler by his very office, he must spend his life in ministering to others, known by his position to all, he must love to be unknown. A debt or to all. he must die to himself in order that he may live solely for oth ers. Assigning to others their tasks, he must never allow himself to be outdone in laboriousness. Holiness of life, therefore; tireless energy; boundless zeal; utter un selfishness; a consuming love for God and for souls, these must be the characteristics of a Bishop. “Give me souls and take, away the rest" must be the program of a Bishop’s life, just as it was the heart-cry of the Great Apostle of the Indies. Small wonder, then, that our Holy- Mother, the Church, unerring inter preter of the mind of Christ, should exact of her Bishops a sublime degree of virtue and impose on them xrnt strict and sacred obligations. Her mind in this regard is manifest in the volume of her laws. That Code crystalizes twenty centuries of rules, instructions, admonitions, counsels and exhortations addressed from the very beginning to those called upon to rule the Church of God. Its lan guage, clear and terse, reveals the heart of Christ, the Divine Shepherd of souls. There, in the Canons that treat of the Episcopate, and guide Bishops in the discharge of their pas toral office, we find, as it were in a palimpsest, the commands, exhorta tions and counsels of Jesus Christ. ST. PAUL GIVES COUNSEL TO BISHOPS There, too, we can read, as it were, between the lines, the vigorous lan guage of St. Paul: “Take heed to yourselves and to the whole flock wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you Bishops ... be an example to the faithful, in word, in conversation, in charity, in faith . . . attend to reading, to exhortation, and to doc trine . . . neglect not the grace which is in thee . . . meditate on these things, be wholly in these things, that thy proficiency may be manifest to ail . . . keep the good deposited in trust to three by the Holy- Ghost . . . labor as a good soldier of Christ” (St. Paul Passim). And St. Peter's words: “Feed the tlock of God which is among you. taking care of it, not by constraint, but willingly, ac cording to God.” (I Peter 3-2). The e too. is the exquisite language of the Beloved Dis iple: “Love not the world nor the things which are in the world.” (I John 2-15). And lastly. ’'In this we have known the charity cf God, because He hath laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (I John 3-16.) Sacred and exacting ns are the duties of Bishops, it is the glory of the Catholic Church that she has pos sessed from the beginning faithful prelates who have lived up to the sublimest ideals of their holy office, saintly men who have been the li-wt of the world and the salt of the earth; good shepherds who have nourished, refreshed, protected and defended the flock of Christ, some- limes even at the cost of their lives. Towers of spiritual strength, they have upheld the Church in every age by their learning, their piety, then- zeal, their example, their prayers. 1hcir sufferings and the holiness of their lives. CENTURIES ILLUMINATED BY GLORIOUS FIGURES One cannot contemplate the leng history of the Church without admir ing the Providence of God. Who raised up the Apostles, and after them so many sainted and saintly succes sors in office who have lighted up 20 centuries by the refulgent splen dor of their teachings and example, and who have faithfully handc.. down to us. the sacred deposit of revealed truth in all its beauty and with all its power. No one can stand unmoved before the majestic figures of SI. Peter, St. Andrew. St. Paul and the rest who glorified the nascent Church by their Apostolic labors and who made this earth of oux-s precious and beautiful because it drank in their life's blood, shed in defense of the truth that they preached. After the Apostles came the Clements, the Gregorys, the Lens, the Pius’, worthy successors in the Chair of Peter; and tluoughout the world the Basils, the Chrysotoms, the Augustines, the Martins, the Patricks, the Bonifaces, the Fishers, the Bor- romeos, the de Sales—oh blessed com pany of worthy Pastors who will shed eternal luster on the Church of God! The pure light of their teaching pierced the black night of paganism, superstition and corruption, and un to the end of time wi 1 forever hold at bay the forces of darkness. Shin ing brighily even in our own day and destined to illumine men's minds for all time, they are like so many suns ASKS THAT HEAVEN’S RICH BLESSINGS MAY DESCEND ON GEORGIA A Sacred Bond Unites Bishop and People, He Says, to Be Strengthened With Years that never set—the very light of the ; world! 1 Every age has known them; every land has been the theater of their Apostolic labors and sacrifices, for, as the Royal Psalmist foretold: “There are no speeches nor languages where their voices are not heard. Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth; and their words unto the ends of the earth.” (Ps. 18:4 and 5.) j AMERICA’S CONTRIBUTION OF HEROIC FIGURES ! Here in our beloved America the Church has been indeed blessed, and j those heroic men, who built up the | City of God in our country—the Car rolls, the Flagets, the Kendricks, the Neumanns, the South’s own great I Bishops, England of Charleston, i Gartland, of Savannah, Bishop Lynch, j Cardinal Gibbons, and so many others I have left behind them examples of : apostolic zeal and fortitude that are not the least among the glories of our dear land. Oh how wondrous is God in His servants, who have exalted the : Christian name as faithful Bishops! : What splendid monuments have they not left behind them in the temples and schools that they built and in tL'e marvelous works of charity and benefi-ence of all kinds that have been the fruit of their faith and zeal! What dangers have they not re- nelled! What salutary reforms have they not inaugurated! How often have they not risen up to preserve, even at the cost of their lives. Catho lic Orthodoxy and Catholic Unity! Such, then, is the office of a Bishop, and such the types of men who have exercised it. Little wonder that learn ed. able and saintly men have re coiled from accepting an office so exacting. I. too. should shrink from it. were I not consoled by my faith, which teaches me that God. Who in the designs of His mysterious ways, often chooses the “weak things cf this world” to perform tasks that in volve His honor and glory and the salvation of souls, will not abandon me in my weakness. I am comforted, too, by the words of the Angelic Doc tor. who says: “Those whom God elects for a certain work He Himseli prepares, so that they may be fit to do that for which they are chosen.” It is. therefore, in the comfort that these words give that I take upon mvself today the task of governing the diocese of Savannah as Us Bishon. May God be good to me in this work, and may He inspire my priests and people with a sense of their own responsibility in Ihe knowledge that without their loyal support rev labors will be in vain. SACRED BOND UNITES BISHOP AND PEOPLE In God's holy Name 1 audio s you now, my beloved priests and people. t sacred bond unites us. to grow stronger with the years. I count on your help. I am sure of it. May it be granted to me to be able to say in the words of Christ Himself: “Of them Whom Thou has given me. i have not lost anyone” (John 18-9). And as 1 utter these words, there come to me, clear, penetrating and strong, span ning an arch of 20 centuries of time, words that were spoken by the Son of God when He went up to Jerusa lem to celebrate the Feast of Taber nacles for the last time—words that carry the weight of a special signif icance because they were spoken shortly after His rejection by the Sa- lnaritans and immediately after the healing of the man born blind—words of the Good Shepherd, expressive of a _ divine . wistfulness and eloquent with a divine yearning as He gazed with His great eves into the future and exclaimed: "Other sheep I have that are net of this fold: them, too, I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd.” (John 10-16.) God grant that Heaven’s richest blessings may ever descend upon this diocese and upon all the people ol the great State of Georgia. May our labors for Christ, our prayers and supplications be acceptable in the sight of God to the end that His Holy Name may become ever more widely known and loved, and that Ili’s Kingdom on earth may receive incre ment. May this land, irrigated by the sweat of our brows, and watered, too, perhaps at times by our tears, show ever the blossoms and the fruits of virtue, so that all may possess, in the words of St. James, “the fruit oi righteousness that is sown in peace.” (James 3-18.) - O Mother of God, Queen of An gels and men, glorious patron of these United States. chosen protectress of this diocese under the title of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Immaculate Mother enshrined in every Catholic heart, be thou always a mother to me and to my priests and people. Pray for me because I have recourse to thee in this solemn hour. Obtain for me the grace that every step I take, everv word I utter, every breath 1 draw, may be all for the honor and glory of thy Divine Son through the sanc- " fr ation and salvation of those who today are committed to my pastoral care. Amen.