Homily given by Bishop Anthony Randazzo
Bishop of Broken Bay
Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine Mass - 9 November 2019
In a little over a year, the Australian Catholic Bishops will convene the Fifth Plenary Council. The previous Councils were in 1885, 1895, 1905, and 1937. The 2020 Plenary Council is unique in that it will be held over two sessions. The first session will be in Adelaide in October 2020 while the second session will be in Sydney in 2021.
It is a significant moment in the life and mission of the Catholic Church in Australia, and already an exhaustive consultation process of prayer, listening, dialogue, and discernment has reached over 220,000 of the Catholic faithful across Australia.
As a member of the Bishops Commission for the Plenary Council, I have, at times, found myself to be filled with joy, as well as tinged with sadness, as I have listened to the prayers, hopes, joys and sufferings of members of the Body of Christ, as together we transit though the process of consultation.
What has struck me most powerfully is the deep movement of the Holy Spirit amongst our Catholic priests and people. I have been delighted by the generosity of our priests in their pastoral care and the dedication to the mission of the Church of our people. I am reminded of the words of Saint Paul who instructed, “fight the good fight of faith” (1Tim 6:12).
While I have been delighted, I have also at times been despondent. I must be honest, that when I hear the cry for “a new Church”, it distresses me more than a little. A new Church implies something different and it incites to throw away what exists.
We believe that the Church is the Body of Christ, and that we are the living members of His body.
To cast away the Church would be to reject Christ himself and to renounce our faith in Him as the Saviour of the world. This, my brothers and sisters, was not the intention of the Australian Catholic Bishops and it never will be.
As Christ’s faithful, each day leads us to conversion of heart. Each day, through prayer and works of love and mercy, we come to see Christ present in others – and we therefore know the saving grace of Jesus Christ in our own lives. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, this conversion will lead each of us to renewal.
As Saint Paul teaches, our aim is righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness (1Tim 6:11). Renewal invoked by conversion leads to genuine reform.
Saint Augustine, is credited with teaching Ecclesia semper reformanda est – “the Church is always in need of reform”. The reform to which he refers is precisely that born from conversion and renewal – always at the prompting of the Holy Spirit and always in fidelity to Divine Revelation, through Scripture and Tradition.
Saint Augustine’s intention is not some frivolous change whereby the latest ideology or social opinion would become the new working order. This would be superficial and would not be an authentic transmission of revelation within the Church.
As the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council taught, the role of the Apostles and their successors, the bishops, is to teach the full purity of the faith… “so that led by the light of the Spirit of truth, they may in proclaiming it preserve this word of God faithfully, explain it, and make it more widely known” (Dei Verbum 9).
My sisters and brothers, let us not be led into the infidelity of believing that we need a new Church!
Rather let us be led, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to conversion, renewal and reform, so that the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church will be recognised, known, and loved as the living Body of Christ. One baptism, one faith, one mission in the world. Not a “new Church” but a “renewed Church”.
As catechists of the Catholic Church your participation in this mission is not to be underestimated. Today, you are commissioned to be spiritual guides, teachers of the faith, leaders in the community – you are called to work with the priests and deacons of the Church. Under my episcopal oversight and care, you are engaged in the mission of evangelisation and catechesis – which is first and foremost, a work of faith.
The Church developed a Latin adage that captures the heart of the work: Nemo dat quod non habet – no one gives what he does not have.
In order to transmit the faith and to teach the doctrine of the faith, one must first believe. If we do not have personal knowledge of Jesus Christ, how can we possibly preach and teach the Good News with conviction? Essential to your mission is ongoing renewal in Christ.
When your students see Christ in you, they will believe what you teach them, because they will have a genuine encounter with Jesus Christ Himself.
In the words of Saint Paul to the Church at Corinth, “we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2Cor 4:5).
May your ministry bring new life to the Church through conversion, renewal, and reform. Through you, may Christ open the eyes of the blind, may He set prisoners free, and may He enlighten those who are in darkness (cf Isaiah 42:7). To work with and for Christ, this is your commission.
May God bless you and the work of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Amen