VATICAN CITY — Each day, a bishop should know Jesus is asking him the same question he asked St. Peter — “Do you love me?” — and giving him the same charge, “Feed my sheep,” said Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans.
The archbishop was the principal celebrant and homilist at Mass Dec. 5 on the “sacred ground and holy place” that is the tomb of St. Peter in the basilica named after the prince of the apostles.
The Mass and recitation of the Creed before St. Peter’s tomb was a central part of the “ad limina” pilgrimage of the bishops of U.S. Region V — Louisiana, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee. Bishops make the visits to Rome to report on the status of their dioceses.
Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans, La., celebrates the Eucharist as U.S. bishops from Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee concelebrate Mass in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Dec. 5, 2019. The bishops were making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican to report on the status of their dioceses to the pope and Vatican officials. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
The life of St. Peter, Archbishop Aymond told his brother bishops, “gives us encouragement and inspiration to live our episcopal ministry.”
The bishops, like Peter, are called to leave everything behind and follow Jesus, the archbishop said. They are called to grow in their relationship with him and, “by our words and our actions, we, too, must proclaim that he is the Messiah, the son of the living God.”
And although “there was nothing he did to deserve the call,” Jesus chose him to be the leader of the church, the archbishop said. “There is nothing we have done to deserve it, yet the Lord God calls us” to be shepherds.
And, again like St. Peter, he said, “even in our daily lives, my brothers, you and I are called as we lead the flock of the Lord to empty ourselves and to bear the crosses we must bear to be the shepherds of our time.”
The first reading at the Mass was from the First Letter of St. Peter, who exhorted the leaders of the community: “Tend the flock of God in your midst, overseeing not by constraint but willingly, as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly. Do not lord it over those assigned to you but be examples to the flock.”
“That’s the advice he gives to us,” Archbishop Aymond told his brother bishops.
Humility is an essential trait for a bishop, he said. Just look at St. Peter: “He knew his sin. He knew his weakness. He knew what he could not do, what he did not understand, and he faced that.”
Like Peter, he said, the bishops must “be strong, be that foundation” of faith for their local communities, “but we must also be humble, like him, in knowing our weakness and asking for that change of heart.”
After meeting the pope Dec. 3, Archbishop Aymond told Catholic News Service, “Everybody left with a very positive spirit, feeling his support. He certainly was reassured of our support, and it was a true, honest dialogue.”
The archbishop, a veteran of “ad limina” visits, said the meeting with the pope and, especially, the meetings with the heads of Roman Curia offices have changed, “and I think that’s at the direction of Pope Francis. I think he has, you know, asked the Curia to truly be of service to us and to walk with us and help us in any way and that’s basically what the conversations have been.”
Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore is pictured after praying at the tomb of St. Paul with U.S. bishops from the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and the Military Archdiocese at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome Dec. 3, 2019. The bishops were making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican to report on the status of their dioceses to the pope and Vatican officials. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz)
U.S. bishops from the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and the Military Archdiocese pray at the tomb of St. Paul after concelebrating Mass at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome Dec. 3, 2019. The bishops were making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican to report on the status of their dioceses to the pope and Vatican officials. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz)
U.S. bishops from the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and the Military Archdiocese pray at the tomb of St. Paul after concelebrating Mass at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome Dec. 3, 2019. The bishops were making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican to report on the status of their dioceses to the pope and Vatican officials. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz)
U.S. bishops from the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and the Military Archdiocese walk to the tomb of St. Paul after concelebrating Mass at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome Dec. 3, 2019. Among those pictured are retired Bishop Paul S. Loverde of Arlington; Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, retired archbishop of Washington; Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Richmond, Va.; and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore. The bishops were making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican to report on the status of their dioceses to the pope and Vatican officials. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz)
U.S. bishops from the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and the Military Archdiocese walk to the tomb of St. Paul after concelebrating Mass at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome Dec. 3, 2019. The bishops were making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican to report on the status of their dioceses to the pope and Vatican officials. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz)
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, celebrates the Eucharist as U.S. bishops from the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and the Military Archdiocese concelebrate Mass at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome Dec. 3, 2019. The bishops were making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican to report on the status of their dioceses to the pope and Vatican officials. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz)
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, gives the homily as U.S. bishops from the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and the Military Archdiocese concelebrate Mass at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome Dec. 3, 2019. The bishops were making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican to report on the status of their dioceses to the pope and Vatican officials. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz)
Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, retired archbishop of Washington, is pictured next to Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Washington, as U.S. bishops from the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and the Military Archdiocese concelebrate Mass at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome Dec. 3, 2019. The bishops were making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican to report on the status of their dioceses to the pope and Vatican officials. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz)
U.S. bishops from the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and the Military Archdiocese concelebrate Mass at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome Dec. 3, 2019. The bishops were making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican to report on the status of their dioceses to the pope and Vatican officials. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz)
Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Washington, Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, retired archbishop of Washington, and Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, arrive to concelebrate Mass with U.S. bishops from the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and the Military Archdiocese at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome Dec. 3, 2019. The bishops were making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican to report on the status of their dioceses to the pope and Vatican officials. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz)
Bishop Malooly, right, and U.S. bishops from the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and the Military Archdiocese pray at the tomb of St. Paul after concelebrating Mass at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome Dec. 3, 2019. The bishops were making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican to report on the status of their dioceses to the pope and Vatican officials. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz)
Pope Francis exchanges greetings in Rome with Msgr. Steven P. Hurley on Dec. 4.
Bishop Malooly and Pope Francis exchange greetings Dec. 3.
