Episcopal Ordination of Rev Fr George Kolodziej SDS
Homily

Most Rev Timothy Costelloe SDB
Archbishop of Perth

Tuesday 19 March, 2025
St Patrick's Cathedral, Perth

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In 2021, in a homily on the occasion of the ordination of two new bishops, Pope Francis spoke of four dimensions of the life and ministry of the bishop. Bishops, he said, are called to be, first and foremost, close to God.

The first task of the bishop is to pray, “not like a parrot” the Pope insisted, “but to pray with the heart”. The second task is to be close to his brother bishops. “There will,” said the Pope, “be arguments between you, but as brothers, be close to one another, and never speak badly of your brother bishops, never”.

The third task is for a bishop to be close to his priests. They must know that they have a father, said Pope Francis, so let them come to you, and if they don’t come, then go to them.

And lastly, the fourth task is to be close to what the Pope describes as the holy people of God - not the perfect people of God, but the holy people of God. Remember, he says, that you have been taken from the flock, not from some special elite group.

Closeness is essential to the life and ministry of a bishop because, Pope Francis insists, “closeness is the most typical trait of God. He himself says this to his people in Deuteronomy: “what great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us”? (cf. Deut. 4:7). Closeness, with two accompanying traits: a closeness that is compassion and a closeness that is tenderness”.

In sharing these thoughts with us, the Pope is setting a high standard for bishops to reach.  The bishops here this morning know this already and our bishop-elect, if he doesn’t already know it, will soon discover it for himself. The demands are great: they are certainly beyond the purely natural abilities of any person. But, as Saint Paul says in his letter to the Philippians, “I can do all things, in him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13). It is Christ, of course, who is the strength of every disciple, and therefore also, and in a particular way the strength of those he calls to the ministry of bishop. This is why it is so important for a bishop to be a man of prayer. It is why, in his Bull of Election for Fr George, Pope Francis speaks of finding himself in earnest prayer before the Blessed Sacrament as he makes his decision about the new bishop of Bunbury. If a bishop is to be a living sign of the Lord’s shepherding presence among his people, the bishop will need to know and love the Lord - he will need to be a man of prayer - and he will need you to allow him to be that man of prayer.

The bishop will also need to be a man of communion, first and foremost with his brother bishops. This has always been true, but in our present time a wise bishop will know that he is not the sole source of all wisdom, and nor is he so strong and independent that he does not need the support, encouragement and friendship of his brothers. Again as Saint Paul says, “God chooses the weak to confound the strong” (1 Cor1:27). One of the ways the Lord strengthens his sometimes weak and all-too-human bishops is through the brotherhood they share together.

The communion of a bishop with his brothers extends, in a very important way, to his communion with his priests. Our tradition will speak of the bishop as a father to his priests - but in this respect he is, of course, a father to adults, not to children. A bishop and his priests are, therefore, also a communion of brothers who, united with the deacons, become “fellow-workers” in the Lord’s vineyard. Together they become the servants of God’s holy people and are called by God to enable the whole Church, through their sacramental ministry and the coherence of their own lives, to be the living and effective sign and bearer of Christ’s presence in and love for the world.

It is as humble servants that bishops are called to be close to God’s people. Sometimes, as the recent Synod on Synodality reminds us, the bishop will be in front of the flock, leading the way. Sometimes he will be in the midst of his flock, rejoicing in the faith and commitment of his fellow disciples and affirming them in their lives and ministries. And sometimes he will be at the rear of the flock, encouraging those who are struggling, uncertain, and even a little lost. But always he will be with his flock, reminding them that it is the Lord Jesus whom we all follow and to whom we all seek to be faithful. It will be the bishop’s task and his privilege, in other words, always to point to Christ, never to himself.

Closeness, says Pope Francis, is the most typical trait of God, when it is marked by compassion and tenderness. Perhaps today, as we celebrate the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, we might look to him as a model of this tender and compassionate presence to others, a model especially, though not only, for our soon-to-be Bishop George. Saint Joseph was certainly close to God, open and attentive to all that God asked of him, no matter how confusing or daunting God’s plan for him seemed to be. When he awoke from his troubling dreams, the scriptures tell us, he did what the angel told him, acting decisively and courageously (cf. Matt 1:24). Bishop George has done the very same: when he “awoke” - that is when he recovered from the shock of Archbishop Balvo’s phone call - he did what the Lord was asking, through the request of Pope Francis. He said yes to the Pope’s invitation to become your bishop. Saint Joseph was also close to Mary, to whom he was betrothed. In spite of the shock of her pregnancy, and the scandal it would inevitably cause, he remained faithful to her, and together with her formed the family in which Jesus, the Word of God made flesh for us as a helpless baby, was to grow to maturity. And as Pope Francis has underlined by his decision to include Saint Joseph by name in all our Eucharistic Prayers, Saint Joseph is close to the Church, the living body of Christ, the beloved family of God. For Bishop George, whose middle name is Joseph, we pray that the “Fatherliness” of Saint Joseph, expressed through tenderness and compassion, but also through courage and fidelity, will be a source of inspiration and hope as he begins this new ministry as father and brother to the Church in this diocese of Bunbury.

May God, who has begun the good work in him, bring it to fulfilment.