REFLECTION:

Yesterday morning, many of the faithful from across our diocese and all our islands gathered for the ordination and installation of Bishop Michael as our new bishop. I won't give you a play-by-play of the day, but there was one moment that has stayed with me.

As members of the College of Consultors and the Presbyteral Council, many of us priests were seated in the sanctuary during the Mass. During the Rite of Episcopal Ordination, I found myself watching Bishop Michael. He was very still, almost in deep contemplation. But what struck me even more was that his eyes were red, as if he had been holding back tears throughout much of the rite.

Those tears became even more evident when the choir began singing These Alone Are Enough, a hymn based on St. Ignatius of Loyola's Suscipe:

Take, Lord, receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, my entire will... Give me only Your love and Your grace. These alone are enough for me.

As I listened to those words and watched Bishop Michael, I couldn't help but think that those were not tears of sadness. They were tears of surrender. Tears that seemed to say, "Lord, I don't know everything that lies ahead, but I give You my life."

Isn't that what faith looks like?

In today's Gospel, Martha says to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." She speaks honestly about her grief and disappointment. Yet in the very next breath she says, "But even now I know..." And then she makes one of the greatest professions of faith in all of Scripture: "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God."

Like Bishop Michael yesterday, Martha entrusts herself completely to the Lord. Neither knows exactly what lies ahead. Martha doesn't yet know Jesus is about to raise Lazarus. Bishop Michael doesn't know every joy, challenge, or cross that will come with being our shepherd. Yet both choose trust over certainty.

Jeremiah does something similar in the first reading. He pours out his frustrations to God, but he continues to cling to the Lord because God's word has become "the joy and the happiness of my heart."

Perhaps that is the lesson from today's readings and from yesterday's ordination. Faith is not pretending to have all the answers. Faith is having the courage to say, "Lord, I place my life into Your hands."



Whether we are beginning a new ministry, grieving the loss of a loved one, facing uncertainty, or simply carrying the ordinary burdens of daily life, Christ asks each of us the same question He asked Martha: "Do you believe this?"

And every day, like Martha, like Jeremiah, and in a very visible way yesterday, like Bishop Michael, we are invited to answer not only with our words but with our lives: "Yes, Lord. I believe."