Ronald our Bishop

Saint Patrick's Cathedral was freezing cold yesterday afternoon, but the capacity crowd was full of faith and warmed by hope, as we celebrated Solemn Vespers led by our new Archbishop, Ronald A, Hicks, who will be canonically installed later today as the 11th Archbishop of New York at what promises to be a magnificent manifestation of the life of this local Church. The motto below the shield in our new Archbishop's Coat of Arms is Paz y Bien, Spanish for "Peace and Good," a phrase attributed to Saint Francis, emphasizing how true peace and all good come to us from Christ. The use of Spanish in his motto recalls Archbishop Hicks' five years in El Salvador (2005-2010) and the contemporary make-up of the American Catholic faithful. It was with these words that he began his first homily from the pulpit of this city's great cathedral. 

I suppose becoming a Bishop anywhere in the Church today entails a multitude of challenges. Certainly, becoming Archbishop of this storied city and sprawling archdiocese must be an especially challenging undertaking, which can only make sense when one trusts totally in the  power and presence of our merciful God, who has promised to be with his Church through it all. With joyful trust and grateful confidence in God's gracious promises, the entire Church of New York, in union with Leo our Pope and Ronald our Bishop, prays today that God's grace with be abundantly poured out upon our new shepherd as he begins to guide us through the stormy paths that lie ahead.

As we all sang together with our new Archbishop yesterday afternoon, From the fears that long have bound us, Free our hearts to faith and praise. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, For the living of these days.