By\u00a0Catholic News Agency<\/p>\n
The most important duty of bishops is total dedication to the pursuit of holiness and the holiness of their local Church, Pope Francis said to a group of 130 new bishops Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI speak to you here of the most urgent task of Pastors: that of holiness!\u201d Francis said Sept. 13, explaining that holiness is not a \u201cbookkeeping\u201d of one\u2019s virtues, a schedule of ascetic practices, a diet, or \u201ca gym of personal effort.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore we existed, God was there and he loved us. Holiness is touching this flesh of God that precedes us. It is getting in touch with his goodness,\u201d he said. \u201cEach of us [bishops] must humbly enter into the depths of ourselves and ask ourselves what he can do to make the face of the Church we govern in the name of the Supreme Pastor more holy.\u201d<\/p>\n
To do this, the pope recommended they face the wounds of their local Church and dialogue with their flock about the questions they have. He also advised paying special attention to their clergy and seminaries.<\/p>\n
He said the challenges facing clergy and seminaries cannot be confronted without \u201cupdating our processes of selection, accompaniment, evaluation.\u201d But solutions will only be fruitful if they also address \u201cthe spiritual chasm that, in many cases, has allowed scandalous weaknesses\u201d<\/p>\n
Answers need to reveal \u201cwhy God has been so mute, so silenced, so removed from a certain way of life, as if he were not there,\u201d he stated, according to a Catholic News Agency report.<\/p>\n
Warning that pointing the finger at others is counter-productive, he told the bishops to work together, remembering that holiness is a work of God which happens when \u201cwe return to the simple joy of the Gospel, so that his blessedness becomes flesh for others in our choices and in our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking at the conclusion of a training course for new bishops organized annually by the Vatican, the pope condemned the idea that the position of a bishop might come with \u201cautomatic privileges.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bishops do not have \u201ctitles of property or acquired rights,\u201d he said. Referencing Matthew 13 and the \u201ctreasure buried in a field,\u201d he said they have found the treasure of their ministry \u201cby chance,\u201d and are called \u201cto sell everything\u201d to buy the field and protect it.<\/p>\n
Becoming a bishop \u201cis not the result of a merely human scrutiny, but of a choice from Above\u201d and the ministry \u201crequires not intermittent dedication, fidelity to alternating stages, a selective obedience, no.\u201d He said: \u201cyou are called to consume yourselves day and night.\u201d<\/p>\n
He told them their identity as bishops is a gift from God and must be considered in the right perspective, begging them to put God at the center of their lives. \u201cHe is the one who asks everything but in return offers life fully,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He urged them not to become discouraged when faced with dark times or difficulty, but to take consolation in the fact that the fate of the Church is in God\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe destiny of the Church, of the little flock, is victoriously hidden in the cross of the Son of God. Our names are engraved on his heart \u2013 engraved on his heart!\u201d he said. \u201cTherefore, do not spend your best energies recording failures and bringing up disappointments, letting the heart shrink and horizons narrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
He praised ministers and consecrated men who persevere in doing good, even though it is not noisy and is not \u201cthe theme of blogs nor does it reach the front pages [of newspapers].\u201d<\/p>\n
These men, he said, \u201ccontinue to believe and to preach with courage the Gospel of grace and mercy to men thirsting for reasons to live, to hope and to love.\u201d They are not afraid by the wounds of Christ caused by sin or by \u201csons of the Church.\u201d<\/p>\n
He criticized the spread of individualism and indifference toward others, especially when the situation of the lost does not even prick consciences or is avoided by those who have the greatest responsibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not allowed to ignore the flesh of Christ, which has been entrusted to us not only in the Sacrament that we break, but also in the people we have inherited,\u201d he stated. \u201cEven his wounds belong to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is right for these metaphorical wounds to be seen and touched, he said, not just used programmatically as a manifestation \u201cof understandable anger.\u201d Instead, the wounds are where the Church learns what happens when the face of Christ fades in memory, is not kept at the forefront.<\/p>\n
\u201cChrist be your joy, the gospel and your nourishment. Keep your gaze fixed only on the Lord Jesus and, accustoming yourself to his light, know how to search [the light] incessantly even where it is refracted, even through humble gleams,\u201d he encouraged.<\/p>\n
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