This morning we received word that Pope Francis has named
Bishop Nelson Perez as the 11th Bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland.
Bishop Perez is currently auxiliary bishop the Diocese of Rockville Center. He
is a native of Miami and a priest of Philadelphia. Bishop Daniel Thomas remains
our Apostolic Administrator until Bishop Perez is installed on September 5. In
the words of Bishop Thomas: “Together let us pray that Bishop Perez' episcopal
ministry will bear great spiritual fruit for the faithful of the Diocese of
Cleveland”
St. Benedict is the father of the monastic tradition that spread throughout Europe—so he’s often known as the Father of Western Monasticism.
Benedict lived in a time when the classical world was breaking apart—bloody wars were tearing down the civilization of the Greco-Roman world. Barbarians were sweeping through Europe. These were the dark ages. European culture was crumbling, yet within the Benedictine Monastery a different culture of work and prayer and learning and love of God prevailed. The monasteries became beacons of hope for the people of Europe.
In the monasteries, the monk’s life was founded on a harmony of work and prayer; yet the ultimate aim of the monk’s was to seek God. Benedict wrote: Nihil amori Christi praeponere—Prefer nothing to the love of Christ. Holiness consists of this: preferring nothing to the love of Christ.
We now live in a world where the culture again is deteriorating. The fabric of society is being torn a-shred at its most basic levels: the dignity of human life and Christian marriage.
Irrationality, decadence, vice, ignorance of classical values and objective morality, all these things proceeded the dark ages 1500 years ago, and they are becoming the new norm again today.
The Benedictine monk is a witness that we must turn away from these things and seek the Lord, if our culture and our Church is to have any hope. We must habituate our minds and hearts to prefer nothing to the love of Christ.
Every Christian is to be a beacon that hope can be found in Jesus Christ. Daily, we must turn away from the distractions of the world, to bask in the sunlight of Christ. And as we are faithful to this vocation, we will begin to radiate his love, his kindness, his purity, his willingness to suffer for righteousness.
Pope Benedict XVI, who took his name from today’s saint echoed his teaching that the love of Christ radiated by the Church is to be a light for the world. Pope Benedict wrote, “Love is the light—and in the end, the only light—that can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working. Love is possible, and we are able to practice it because we are created in the image of God. To experience love and in this way to cause the light of God to enter into the world” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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For Bishop Nelson Perez, named as the 11th bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland, for the support of God's grace and the help of the Holy Spirit as he begins this most vital ministry.
For the sanctification of every Christian, that each member of the faithful may radically commit to the vocation to holiness.
For the Benedictine Order and all of the monastic orders, that they may remind us to prefer nothing to the love of Christ.
For the healing of all those afflicted with physical,
mental, emotional illness, for those in hospitals, nursing homes, hospice care,
those struggling with addictions, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one,
and those who will die today.
For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of
the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends,
and parish, for deceased priests and religious, for those who have fought and
died for our freedom, we pray to the Lord.
Gracious Father, your saints remind us to seek first your kingdom, through the intercession of St. Benedict, hear our prayers, and help us to become worthy of the promises of Christ, through the same Christ Our Lord.
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