Bishop Daniel Thomas of the Toledo (Ohio) Diocese gives the homily during Solemn Vespers Sept. 26 at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Bettendorf.
By Barb Arland-Fye
The Catholic Messenger
BETTENDORF — On the eve of his ordination, Bishop-elect Dennis Walsh stopped by pew after pew, chatting and laughing with people before the start of Solemn Vespers Sept. 26 at St. John Vianney Catholic Church.
Dressed in black clerics, he was a participant and not presider and sat among the people, who prayed for him as he prepared to take up his new ministry as 10th Bishop of the Diocese of Davenport. Archbishop Thomas Zinkula of the Dubuque Archdiocese presided in the presence of Cardinal Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States. The homilist was Bishop Daniel Thomas of the Toledo Diocese (Ohio), Bishop-elect Walsh’s home diocese. Also present was Bishop-emeritus Martin Amos (the Eighth Bishop of the Davenport Diocese), along with other clergy.
Giving the bishop-elect an opportunity to “sit with the people in Vespers … as a congregant, a member of the diocese, has to be a delight for him,” said the Rev. Peter Pettit, teaching pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Davenport. He attended Vespers as one of the ecumenical and interreligious representatives.
Bishop-elect Dennis Walsh poses for a photo with a group from St. Joseph Parish-Columbus Junction after Solemn Vespers Sept. 26 at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Bettendorf.
Alan Ross, executive director of the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities, and his wife, Jill, appreciated the warm greeting they received from Bishop-elect Walsh before Vespers began. “He sees people as individuals,” Jill Ross said, adding that the ceremony was beautiful. “I think it’s wonderful to be here, to be invited,” said Alan Ross. “I’m sure he will be a great advocate for interfaith dialogue.”
Father Jason Crossen, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Bettendorf, was a seminarian at the Pontifical North American College Seminary in Rome when then-Msgr. Thomas served as an official of the Congregation of Bishops and as adjunct spiritual director at the seminary. “If he is our (new) bishop’s mentor, we are in good hands,” Father Crossen said.
The Vespers service included intercessions spoken in Spanish, Vietnamese, French, Tagalog, and English and the lively music of the Mater Dei French African Choir from Iowa City, reflecting the universality of the local and universal Church.
Words of wisdom
“Yes, there is cause for rejoicing here,” Bishop Thomas said in his homily, connecting the reading from 1 Peter 1:6-9 to the responsibilities that Bishop-elect Walsh was about to assume as shepherd of the local Church in the Davenport Diocese. The reading reflects on Christians’ cause for rejoicing — their faith in Jesus Christ and the promise of the salvation of their souls — even though “for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials…”
Bishop Thomas observed, “St. Peter attaches a sobering condition to the rejoicing. We suffer the distress of many trials only to be glorified with Jesus. Every Christian, first of all the bishop, must be conformed to the image of Christ crucified, and only then can he hope to be the image of Christ risen. Those trials, St. Peter insists, are so that your faith, which is more precious than that passing splendor of fire-tried gold, may by its genuineness, lead to praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ appears.”
“St. Peter explains how this is possible. Although you have never seen him, you love him. And without seeing, you believe in him. And rejoice with the inexpressible joy, touched with glory, because you are achieving faith’s goal — your salvation. This is the hope in which every Christian rejoices,” Bishop Thomas said.
“This is the hope in which this local Church in Davenport rejoices this evening. Priests, deacons, consecrated religious and lay faithful praying and interceding before the Lord who suffered, died and rose for us.” Whatever trials may come, “may they only serve to strengthen (the faithful’s) Catholic faith, more precious than fire-tried gold. What a source of hope!”
Bishop Thomas continued, “The new bishop comes to stand in the person of the Father to become the Father of this family of faith in the Diocese of Davenport. A daunting task. … I beg you, pray for him, that he himself may live as a worthy child of the Father, a holy, humble and ardent bishop who strives to build you up in faith, who loves you, nurtures you, who shares your joys and sorrows, and who desires one day to be united with you in heaven.”
As every good father loves his children unconditionally, “so will your new bishop strive to love you,” Bishop Thomas said. “Every good father strives to love first by example and to protect his family from evil. So, he will strive to love you! Every good father, though his children stray, lets them know he is always there to welcome them home. So will he strive to love you.”
Addressing Bishop-elect Walsh, whom he viewed as a valued advisor and collaborator in the Toledo Diocese, Bishop Thomas encouraged him, “with deep faith, believe in the power of the Father’s love enabling you and your people to live out your baptism. Such living and vibrant faith can and will convert hearts and minds, transform families, edify coworkers, rekindle the lukewarm, seek out the lost, invite students and inspire all. Such faith is the confident assurance in the one who conquered sin and death.”
