(The following excerpt is Part I of a homily delivered by Archbishop Seán Patrick O'Malley, OFM Cap., at his Mass of Installation as the sixth Archbishop of Boston, July 30, 2003, at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Boston.)
“First of all, I wish to express my gratitude to our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, for the great trust he has placed in me by making me a Bishop nineteen years ago, and now sending me to you as your Archbishop. I wish publicly to express my loyalty and affection to the successor of Saint Peter. We are all pleased that the Holy Father's personal representative, Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, is here with us today. Archbishop, please tell our Holy Father that the Catholics of Boston together with their new Archbishop love him and congratulate him for the 25th anniversary of his Pontificate and we thank him for his magnificent letter on the Rosary. Today in Boston, we too say: "Mary, Totus tuus."
It is a joy to have so many members of the O'Malley Clan here today. I love you all very much and thank you for your unfailing support for my vocation and ministry.
I welcome the Bishops of New England and other distinguished prelates who are joining us for the ceremony. We greet our public officials and representatives from other churches and faith traditions. With special affection we welcome our Jewish brothers and sisters. I recognize so many friends from the Virgin Islands, Fall River, and Palm Beach. It was a privilege and a joy being your bishop and I thank you for all your kindnesses and friendship.
I welcome my fellow Capuchin friars, Archbishop Charles, my Provincial, and all my brothers in Saint Francis whose love and support have always meant so much to me. After 38 years, being a Franciscan brother is still the great joy of my life. I wish that after so long I were doing it better, but God and my community have not given up on me. Although, when I have been bishop in lovely vacation spots, my Provincial used to say, "O'Malley, when will you get a real job?” Brother Paul, does this count?
And finally, I greet all of you who form part of this great Archdiocese of Boston, priests, deacons, religious, and laity. As your Archbishop, I am your Shepherd, as a friar I am your brother, and I have come to serve you, to wash your feet as Jesus says and to repeat the great commandment: Love one another as Christ loves us. It is His love that binds us together. The immensity of that love is measured by the Cross. Saint Francis was not a learned man, but he had the wisdom of simple believers. He used to say that the Cross was his book. In that book we find the world's greatest love story. The story of the Shepherd who laid down His life for us, His flock, His friends.
The patron saint of the Archdiocese is Saint Patrick, a great saint indeed. When he returned to Ireland as a missionary bishop, he was preaching in County Mayo where the O'Malleys hail from. A fierce warrior asked to be baptized and received into the Church. Since there were still no Churches in Ireland, they gathered in a great field. A huge crowd arrived to witness the event. Saint Patrick arrived in his bishop's vestments, his miter and crosier. He stuck his staff in the ground and began to preach a long sermon on the Catholic Faith. The chieftain to be baptized stood in front of Patrick during the sermon. He grew pale, began to sweat profusely and fainted at the saint's feet. When they rushed over to help him, the people discovered that Saint Patrick had inadvertently stuck his staff through the man's foot. When they were able to revive the wounded warrior, they asked him why he had not said anything when it happened. He replied that he thought it was part of the ceremony. The poor man did not understand much about the Catholic liturgy, but did know that Discipleship means taking up the Cross.
Discipleship means taking up the Cross. Today this ceremony began with a dramatic gesture. At every installation ceremony the new Bishop is presented with a crucifix at the door, so that he can kiss the cross. This is a gesture we all know as Catholics. On Good Friday, in endless lines Catholics around the world draw near the cross to kiss it. We can never allow that to be an empty gesture. When we kiss the cross, we are kissing God's love and mercy that is crucified. We are acknowledging that salvation is not a cheap grace, that we are bought at a great price.
Saint Francis wrote in his last Testament about his conversion. He said that he could not stand to see leprosy; but one day God's grace invaded his heart; and when Francis encountered a leper instead of fleeing to safety, he drew near, embraced the leper and kissed him. On that day Francis truly kissed the cross and his life was changed, because his heart was changed.
Jesus began His public ministry in Nazareth with a liturgy of the word. Even as we saw our lectors draw near the podium this morning to proclaim God's word, so we might imagine Jesus as lector, taking the scroll and reading from the book of Isaiah: "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me and has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind and to let the oppressed go free and proclaim a year of grace."
Jesus has come to reveal to us the merciful face of the Father. In a world of suffering and violence, of injustice and pain, the love and mercy of our God is manifest to us in Christ. Jesus could indeed say: "Today these words are fulfilled in your hearing."
When the followers of John the Baptist question our Lord about His identity (Mt. 11) with the question: "Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another?" Jesus replied: "Go tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them." He has come to reveal the Fathers love and mercy for all, especially those in pain and in want.
We who are His Church are called to carry out these tasks in today's world. The concept of a preferential love for the poor is not a modern concept. In the Gospels the poor, the sick, the marginalized, are the protagonists, and Jesus defines His mission in terms of being sent to bring glad tidings to such as these. Jesus tells us that he prefers mercy to sacrifice. As God's pilgrim people, we struggle to advance this mission in spite of our shortcomings.”
