St Bernards High School - Bernardian Yearbook (Fitchburg, MA)

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FLANAGAN, D. D. His Excellency Bishop of Worcester MOST REVEREND BERNARD J.

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Light of Christ, Light of the Nations the theme of light, the key theme of the Second Vatican Council Pope John XXIII had been Pope for only ninety days when he made the un- expected announcement of his plan to convoke an Ecumenical council, the twenty- first in the history of the Church. On October 11, 1962, the Council opened. The eighty-year-old Pope John in an optimistic speech set the pastoral tone which was to dominate the Council deliberations —the world’s need for the medicine of mercy. Nine months later, he was dead. On September 29, 1963, Pope Paul opened the second session having taken as a main program of his pontificate the completion and implementation of the Council which his revered predecessor had summoned. Thefinal session of the Council began on September 14, 1965, and concluded on December 8 of the same year. Taken as a whole the sixteen documents promulgated by the Council are espe- cially noteworthy for their concern with the poor, for their insistence on the unity of the human family, for the Christian’s duty to help build a just and peaceful world in cooperation with all men of good will. Nine days after the Council opened, the first message to the world was approved and released, the first official act of the Council. To quote from Pope John’s message to humanity: We believe that the Father so loved the world that He gave His own Son to save it. Patterning ourselves after His example, who ‘‘came not to be served but to serve,”’ we should, like Jesus, be concerned with the lowly, poor, and weak, and have pity on the multitude weighed down with hunger and misery. If all men hate war and desire peace, the Churchdesires it most of all because she is the Mother of all. She is always ready to lend aid with her whole heart to any sincere effort on behalf on peace. The Holy Father also pleads for social justice and clearly shows that the Church is necessary for the modern world if injustices are to be denounced so that man’s life can become more human according to the standards of the gospel. Lacking human resources and earthly power, the Church lodges her trust in the power of God’s Spirit, promised to the Churchby Jesus. All Christians, and the rest of men of good will, are called upon to work together in the building up of a more just and brotherly city in this world. In spite of the threats to the peace desired, arising from the very progress of science, our prayer should be that in the midst of this world, there may radiate the light of our great hope in Jesus Christ, our only Savior.

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Shepherds of the Flock Jesus Christ established His Holy Church by sending forth the apostles, first to the children of Israel and then to allnations. He willed that their successors, namely the bishops, should be shepherds in His Church. He placed Peter over the other apostles, thus authorizing the sacred primacy of the Roman Pontiff. The apostles were fully confirmed in their mission on the day of Pentecost, with the coming of the Holy Spirit. By everywhere preaching the gospel, the apostles gathered together the universal Church. In order that the mission assigned to them by Christ might continued after their death, they passed on to others the duty of attending to the flock in which the Holy Spirit placed them to shepherd the Church of God. They, therefore, appointed such men and authorized the arrangement that when these men should have died, other approved men should take up their ministry. Through those who were appointed bishops by the apostles and through their successors, down to our own time, the apostolic tradition is manifested throughout the world. The individual bishops exercise their pastoral government over the portion of the People of God committed to their care. But each of them is obliged by Christ’s command to have a universal outlook and to be solicitous for the whole Church. With all their energy, they must supply to the missions not only workers but also spiritual and material aid. They should gladly extend their fraternal aid to other church and should give relief in disasters. Bishops are endowed with the authority of Christ to preach to the people com- mitted to them the faith they must believe and put into practice. In matters of faith and morals, the bishops speak in the name of Christ, and the faithful are to accept this teaching. This authority is even more closely verified when, gathered together in an ecumenical council, bishops are teachers and judges of faith and morals for the universal Church. The infallibility promised to the Church resides not only in the Roman Pontiff but alsoin the body of bishops when that body exercises supreme teaching authority with the successor of Peter. By praying and laboring for the people, bishops channel the fulness of Christ’s holiness. By the ministry of the word they communicate God’s power to those who believe unto salvation. Through the sacraments, they sanctify the faithful. They earnestly instruct their people to carry out their part in the liturgy and especially in the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Finally, by the example of their manner of life, they are an influence for good on those over whom they preside. Thus, together with the flock committed to their care, they can arrive at eternal life. A bishop keeps before his eyes the example of the Good Shepherd who came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to lay down His life for His sheep. Centuries ago, St. Augustine said to his people: ‘For you, I am a bishop, but with you I am a Christian. The first is an office accepted, the second a grace received; one a danger, the other safety. If, then, I am gladder by far to be redeemed with you than I am to be placed over you, I shall, as the Lord commanded, be more completely your servant.” The Documents of Vatican II — Bishops