Special Intentions Unite Us in Prayer

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,    

The issue date for this edition of the Clarion Herald is Aug. 29, a day that is etched in the minds of New Orleanians as the day Hurricane Katrina changed the city and the surrounding region forever. As we observe 21 years since the storm’s landfall, know that I am praying for our city and that your resilience in recovery is incredible. May God continue to bless our city of New Orleans!

Next month I have a couple of special prayer intentions that I ask you to remember. Sadly, Sept. 11 will be an emotional day for our country, as it will be the 25th anniversary of the horrific terrorist attacks that changed so much in our world and took the lives of too many innocent people. In the Diocese of Metuchen, where I served before coming here as your archbishop, we had many victims who had worked for the investment companies headquartered in the New York twin towers and lived in New Jersey. Many parishes had permanent memorials which reminded us to pray for them, their families and for peace in our world. So, I ask us all to pray anew for the victims and their families and for all affected by that day’s tragic events. Of course, prayers for peace in our lives, our country and world are good too. 

Gratefully, we have a special celebration this year that gives us a reason to offer thanks as an archdiocese as on Sept. 14, Archbishop Emeritus Alfred Hughes will celebrate a special and rare milestone – 45 years as a bishop! Archbishop Hughes was 48 years old when he was ordained an auxiliary bishop, so you can do the math yourself and figure out his current age! There are not many bishops who celebrate 45 years as a bishop. 

Indeed, we have much to be grateful for as now 25 of those 45 years have been spent serving the faithful of this wonderful Church of New Orleans. Since his retirement as Archbishop of New Orleans in 2009, Archbishop has been serving as a spiritual director at Notre Dame Seminary and teaching too, as well as serving others both within the archdiocese and across our country in various ministries. The Bishops of New Jersey and Pennsylvania were fortunate to have Archbishop as our retreat master a couple years ago.He had beautiful insights and reflections for us on our episcopal ministry and deepening our friendship with Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Little did I know that I would be blessed to share more directly in priestly and episcopal ministry with him here!   

Being a bishop is a great joy. It is hard to get your mind around being called to be a successor of the Apostles who were such outstanding witnesses to Christ by how they lived and even gave their lives for Christ and His Church, His dear people. Visiting and praying with you, our priests, deacons and those in consecrated life, our two seminary communities and throughout our 104 parishes, as well as our schools, prisons, nursing homes and other institutions is truly a joy and what energizes us bishops for all the administrative duties that fall in our laps.  

Pope Saint John Paul II reminded us bishops that above all, we are to be witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. The Apostles found the tomb empty and then set out to share that joyful, life changing news with all, becoming witnesses to hope for our world. The Apostles lived in such challenging times, and we have our challenges, too. Deepening my friendship with Christ through private and communal prayer certainly keeps me focused on my task at hand. By praying and interacting with all our lay faithful, clergy, religious and deacons, learning from them about Christ and helping to spread His message of mercy and hope to all in need, we carry on the task that the Apostles set out on.    

Archbishop Hughes has generously given himself to this for the past 45 years. Even now, he continues to serve rather than sit back and relax! He is a man in love with Jesus and all of you and this is still the focus of his life. There is much that can be said, but to put it simply, New Orleans is blessed with the ministry of a holy man of God and  I ask you all to join me and Archbishop Aymond, another emeritus archbishop but not retired, active and good shepherd for us, in thanking God for Archbishop Hughes and his fruitful ministry on behalf of God’s kingdom. I know he is so grateful for you, as am I. 

So, on behalf of all in our archdiocese, congratulations, Archbishop Hughes and thank you for all you have done and still do for our archdiocese and Church. We pray you will have many more years of good health and joyful service to the beloved people of our archdiocese. 

Know of my love, prayers and gratitude for all of you and please remember to pray for me too!