Homily of Most Reverend Thomas Wenski
Mass
of Installation
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Archbishop Thomas Wenski - Pastoral Center
www.newmiamiarch.org
Thank you for that enthusiastic welcome you gave me at the beginning
of Mass. Gracias, Mesi anpil. Also, I am grateful for the support of
those who traveled great distances to be here today – his Eminence,
Cardinal O’Mally, my brother bishops, my relatives, and, of course,
the priests who came down from Orlando to make sure that I was well
received.. Your presence means so much not only to me but also to
all the faithful of the Archdiocese – for this is a significant
event not only in my own life but in the life of this local Church.
Your Excellency, Archbishop Sambi, as Papal Nuncio in the United
States, I ask you to convey to the Holy Father my gratitude for the
confidence he has place in me in entrusting to me the care of this
Archdiocese – in spite of my own limitations and shortcomings. . Of
course, if you forget to, perhaps Archbishop Barney Auza, Papal
Nuncio to Haiti, who is also present here today, could carry that
same message for me.
Sometimes I tell people – only half in jest – the best thing about
Miami and South Florida is that it is so close to the United States.
Miami is certainly part of the United States, this great land of
opportunity and freedom. And Miami can rightfully claim to be our
nation’s new Ellis Island – for it has become a port of entry for
refugees and immigrants from around the world, but especially from
the Caribbean, Central and South America. Of course, there was no
Statue of Liberty here to welcome the newcomers – and sometimes
those newcomers were not very welcomed anyway; but for the past 52
years under the leadership of my predecessors, Archbishops Coleman
Carroll, Edward McCarthy and John C. Favalora, the Church of Miami
was here to extend her maternal embrace to all. For the Church is
the Father’s House – and all God’s children should feel at home in
their Father’s House, and here in the Archdiocese of Miami – in our
parishes, schools and charitable institutions – we have welcomed
newcomers – from the first refugees fleeing the Cuban Revolution to
this year’s victims of Haiti’s January earthquake. And we’ve learned
that the best way to make someone feel at home in their “Father’s
House” is to speak their Mother’s tongue.
And while Miami (and South Florida) is part of these United States,
it also has become a vital part of the various nations from which
our people have come: Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Colombia
and the rest of the Caribbean, South and Central America. South
Florida is truly a transnational community – and that, more than the
sun and the beautiful beaches, explains why those who live here find
it such a dynamic and exciting place to live. Sometimes, Miami
boasts that it is the capital of the hemisphere. The presence here
today of Bishops from Cuba, Haiti and Puerto Rico, I think, shows
that this is no idle boast.
Al asumir los cargos de la arquidiócesis, yo tengo presente las
repetidas palabras del Siervo de Dios, Juan Pablo II: No tengan
miedo. Gracias a esta calorosa bienvenida y los innumerables
mensajes de apoyo que he recibido desde el día de mi nombramiento,
no tengo miedo – pero si, yo estoy temblando.
Quiero agradecer la presencia solidaria de esta delegación de
obispos de Cuba que ha venido a participar en esta ceremonia. De los
obispos cubanos a quienes tanto admiro, he aprendido lo que quiere
decir esta frase: “no es fácil”. Y, que testimonio de fe, esperanza
y caridad nos han dado! Pues, a pesar que no es nada fácil, han
permanecidos fieles a la misión confiada a ellos por Cristo para
llevar a los pobres la Buena Nueva, para anunciar la liberación a
los cautivos y la curación a los ciegos, para dar libertad a los
oprimidos y proclamar el año de gracia del Señor (Lucas 4: 16-21).
Se nos acerca el aniversario del hallazgo y la presencia de la
imagen de Virgen de la Caridad en Cuba: 400 anos en el ano 2012. Que
este jubileo de la Virgen Mambisa una al pueblo cubano que, a pesar
de tristes divisiones y agravios, sigue siendo un solo pueblo.
Como los obispos cubanos han dicho: A Jesús por María, la caridad
nos une A este fin, hagamos nuestro el grito de Guerra de Ignacio
Agramonte: “Que la Virgen de la Caridad nos ilumine”. Que ella nos
ilumine con esa luz brillante como la estrella solitaria de la
bandera cubana – que es la luz de Cristo, el único Salvador del
mundo.
M pa kapab pa di kèk mo an kreyòl – ki preske tounen pou mwen lang
manman mwen, Yo te konn di, Miyami se dizyèm depatman an, jodi a lè
m wè prezans Nons Apostolik Ayiti a ak 5 evèk ayisyen ki soti Ayiti,
mwen konnen se pa manti.
Lè m te ale Orlando, ayisyen Miyami yo ki te monte ave m jou m te
ale a te di moun Orlando yo: se prete l n ap prete l. Konsa, jan
pwovèb la di: prete pa vle di bay. Jodi a, mwen tounen lakay, mwen
tounen Miyami kote m te premyè kontre ak kominote ayisyen an.
Mezanmi, kouray pèp ayisyen an malgre tout dezas - tout kalite ak
tout jan – kouray pèp ayisyen pa piti, epi lafwa pep sa nan Bondye
pa piti. Menm lè apre tranbleman tè sa ki frape peyi lè 12 janvye,
Ayisyen konnen pou yo fè Bondye konfyans. Lè yon jounalis etranje
sezi we tout déga, tout moun mouri, moun blesi, li mande: Kote
Bondye te ye? Li te kanpe bò kote debri katedral Potoprens; epi, nan
moman desespwa sa al te gen yon ti granmoun ki mennen l nan plas
devan katedral la kote gen yon kalve – ak imaj Jezi krisifye – ki te
rete entak. Epi, li di jounalis la: men, li. Se te komsi li te vle
montre etranje sa, Bondye toujou la ak pep li a. Li pat lage li;
men, l ap kriye, l ap soufri ansanm avè li.. Epi, si Bondye pa lage
pèp la, nou pa kapab lage l nonplis. .Se pou Manman Mari, ki toujou
ban n sekou, li menm ki patwon peyi d’Ayiti Toma kore nou byen kore
pou tout ayisyen yo ak tout zanmi Ayiti yo konsekan ak angajman yo
pou Ayiti refè, pou tout Sòyèt ak Frèjis nan peyi a gen yon lavni
espwa.
Here in the Archdiocese of Miami, we have our problems, our
challenges to face - the economic crisis and the closing of schools
and more than a dozen parishes, have frustrated everyone and angered
many. But let’s not feel sorry for ourselves. Our brothers and
sisters in Haiti, Cuba and elsewhere have challenges much more
daunting than our own – with far less resources than we have. We can
be tempted, like Martha in the gospel, to be worried about many
things – but let us not forget the one thing necessary: our
relationship with Jesus Christ.
With the light of the Risen Christ and with the power of the Holy
Spirit we must continue to announce the good news of Jesus Christ
and invite all to an encounter with him in the Church so that they
might have life in him. We have no other treasure but that: the gift
of encounter with Jesus Christ. As the bishops of Latin America said
at the Fifth Conference of CELAM in 2008: “We have no other
happiness, no other priority but being instruments of the Spirit of
God, in the Church, so that Jesus Christ may be known, followed,
loved, adored, and communicated to all, despite difficulties and
resistances.”
Some of those difficulties and resistances are found within us –
sometimes faith is found weakened, hope uncertain and charity grown
cold. Pope Benedict remarked last month commenting on the scandal of
clerical sex abuse of children and young people: “The greatest
persecution of the Church does not come from the enemies outside,
but is born from inside the Church.”
This “suffering of the Church inside the Church that comes from the
sins that exist from inside the Church” will not be solved by better
computer programs, more efficient business practices, or even by
better preaching –what is required rather is conversion, a
recommitment on the part of all to live the faith coherently.
But there are other difficulties and resistances found outside as
well as inside the Church. The increasing sway within our culture of
what Pope Benedict has called the “dictatorship of relativism” is a
growing challenge to the Church’s mission to bring the gospel to
all. This radically secular world view wishes to reduce faith to the
realm of the “private” and the “subjective” and thus tries to limit
our freedom to serve, whether in health care, education or social
services. It tries to exclude our voice, the voice of the Church, in
the public square. To a world tempted to live as if God doesn’t
matter and therefore a world that teeters on the brink on despair,
we need to witness to hope by showing– by what we say and do (and by
what we won’t do) – how beautiful, how joyful life is when one lives
convinced that God does indeed matter. And, because God matters, we
are also called to model a life in which man matters as well.
For this reason, Catholics should involve themselves in the public
square – and do so coherently and unapologetically. This is not to
“impose our views” but to “make our proposal” about what is
necessary for human flourishing in society. Thus, we bring to public
policy debates on issues of human life dignity, justice and peace,
immigration reform, and marriage and the family an understanding of
the human person that, while founded on the Christian Scriptures, is
also accessible to human reason.
While this understanding expressed in the Church’s social teachings
can seem to be quite complex, I believe it can be summarized in one
simple phrase: no man is a problem. This why as Archbishop of Miami
I will continue to proclaim a positive and consistent ethic of life:
no human being – no matter how poor or how weak - can be reduced to
just a problem. When we allow ourselves to think of a human being as
a mere problem, we offend his or her dignity. And, when we see
another human being as a problem, we often give ourselves permission
to look for expedient but not just solutions. The tragic history of
the 20th Century shows that thinking like this even leads to “final
solutions”.
For us, Catholics, therefore, there can be no such thing as a
“problem pregnancy” – only a child who is to be welcome in life and
protected by law. The refugee, the migrant –even one without
“papers” - is not a problem. He may perhaps be a stranger but a
stranger to be embraced as a brother. Even criminals – for all the
horror of their crimes – do not lose their God-given dignity as
human beings. They too must be treated with respect, even in their
punishment. This is why Catholic social teaching condemns torture
and advocates for the abolition of the death penalty.
As I begin my service to this local Church as its fourth Archbishop,
I ask for your support, your cooperation – and, most of all, I ask
for your prayers. We begin a new chapter in this history of this
local Church – and so, this is the time for us all – priests,
deacons, religious and members of Christ’s faithful – to assess our
fervor and to find fresh enthusiasm for the spiritual and pastoral
responsibilities that lie ahead of us. We must look ahead and, like
Peter, trusting in Christ’s words, “put out into the deep”. Duc in
altum. The Lord has already assured us: “I am with you always.”
So let us begin. Let us start afresh from Christ.
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary
