Father Joseph Illo, pastor of Star of the Sea parish in San Francisco, gave a 10-minute homily on Saturday, May 1, feast of St. Joseph the Workman, as the old missals used to call it. The Mass was followed by a procession up Ninth Avenue and Lake Street and east to the Little Sisters of the Poor.
Go to the 4 minute 24 second marker of the video: “The primary task of a bishop is not to do Confirmations, is not to raise money for his annual appeal, is not to lead meetings and speak to the press. The primary work of the bishop is the preaching the Word, the ministry of the Word.”
You’d never know it by the way most bishops act.
Beautiful. Actually, the Bishop of a Diocese has three main duties— to “teach, sanctify, and govern,” in a nutshell. “To teach” means to oversee preaching of the Gospel and Catholic catechesis and education, in all its forms, in his Diocese. “To sanctify” means to oversee and provide for the administration of the Sacraments, to sanctify the Catholics in his Diocese. “To govern” means to oversee and supervise all clergy, churches, chapels, shrines, etc., and all Catholic schools, hospitals, charities, and other Catholic institutions and groups in his Diocese– plus, to legislate, administer and act as judge for Canon Law matters in his Diocese. And of course, to ordain priests, and administer the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Anon., that seems like a good summary.
A very minor point (though a major Order): bishops also ordain us deacons. :)
Oh, yes, Deacon Anderson. Of course. And we are also blessed to have you as part of our ordained clergy. I am not sure– but are you in a different branch of the Church– maybe the Byzantine Rite? Do Deacons have different duties in different branches of the Church?
And we need to be willing to be taught, sanctified and governed.
Father Illo, please send a copy of your homily to Bishop Robert McElroy, care of the National Democratic Campaign Committee. Mark it URGENT.
Why don’t you do it, Father Illo is a bust parish priest
Yes, he is a busy priest, and his parish is blessed to have him at the helm.
Anonymous @ 2:48 pm, 4 May 2021
The answer is simple. It’s Father Illo’s homily, and while I agree with it and am grateful for it, he should decide whether and to whom he disseminates it. My post was suggestion. I’ll let Father be the judge of what to do. That’s a simple courtesy with which you are apparently unfamiliar. [ASSUMING YOU ARE WHO I THINK you are!!!!]
Another condescending Illomily
I made this snarky comment before listening to the video of the homily, my mistake. I was reacting to the CCD headline which I actually think does a disservice to the homily which, on balance, was fine. The commentary about bishops seemed out of place, but that is a minor fault. Although it is my fault for reacting to the CCD headline before watching the video, CCD would do well to more properly represent the contents of the things it posts. It seems to have missed the point of the homily completely.
Thank you for honest, thoughtful discussion here. Often it seems readers are posting without reading the articles (or listening to the homilies).
That was big of you to admit.
Why are people so stuck up?