On Sunday 25 August 2019, Archbishop Stephen Brislin
ordained the new auxiliary bishop of Cape Town: Sylvester David OMI.
Below is the text of his homily
ordained the new auxiliary bishop of Cape Town: Sylvester David OMI.
Below is the text of his homily
It is indeed good to be here, as we gather together in celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection on the Day of the Lord. With hearts filled with gratitude for the goodness and blessings God bestows on his people, we give particular thanks for blessing our Archdiocese with an auxiliary bishop. It has taken many years for this day to come but come it has, and we are confident that it is the kairos the right moment for it to happen. As Archbishop I must express our thanks, on behalf of all, to the Holy Father, Pope Francis for appointing Bishop Sylvester, to Cardinal Filoni of the Dicastery for the evangelisation of peoples and to the Nuncio, Archbishop Peter Wells for their respective roles in facilitating the appointment of an auxiliary bishop. I have no doubt that I speak on behalf of all in the Archdiocese when I say to Bishop Sylvester “welcome, we are delighted and overjoyed to have you here. We hope that you will be happy living here and that your ministry will bear much fruit”. We are grateful to your family who nurtured you in your faith and guided you to priesthood. We are grateful to your other family, the family which you chose, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. We are grateful for the formation they gave you and their generosity and willingness to share you with the wider Church as a bishop. We appreciate the presence of many Oblates present here today, including your Provincial.Fr Neil Frank. You will find, as I did, that the priests, deacons, Religious and laity of this archdiocese are welcoming, hospitable and supportive. We have our troubles and difficulties, but there is a great love for the Church and a joyful energy. The faith of people has always been a great source of strength for me – may it be so for you as well.
The Readings you have chosen are pastoral and personal, capturing the nature of God who yearns for his people and is always ready to welcome them. And so he says, in the First Reading of today’s Mass, that he himself will search for his sheep, he will seek them, he will rescue them, feed them in rich pasture, bind their wounds and bring back the stray. He is not a God prepared to sit back, to consolidate what he has, waiting for people to come to him. His yearning and longing for his people means that he will actively seek to gather and unite them. Perhaps this is captured best by the dialogue between Jesus and St Peter when the Resurrected Jesus was revealed “for the third time” to his disciples. Three time Jesus asks St Peter “do you love me”. Three times Peter affirms his love for the Lord. St Augustine makes the point that while St Peter denied the Lord three times through fear, he confesses three times through love. That is the key to understanding the transformation brought about by the Resurrection and the coming of God’s Holy Spirit. Fear is cast out and we are invited to embrace love.
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