"Loaded with gifts" - from the homily of Fr. Riccardo for his brother priest, Abp. Byrnes, with whom I once served at young adults masses, when he was still rector of the seminary:
Fr. Riccardo also invoked St. Joan of Arc, patron of the parish where Archbishop Byrnes served as an associate pastor from 1996-99, and where he spent his final years until he died on May 30, St. Joan of Arc’s feast day.
Fr. Riccardo likened St. Joan of Arc’s story to that of Archbishop Byrnes’ time leading the Archdiocese of Agaña, a Church that was in great distress upon his arrival.
St. Joan of Arc's determination and obedience to God led her to take part in a "resistance movement" in France, Fr. Riccardo noted, “so it could come back under its proper leadership.”
“Mike was fond of thinking of the Church in that way," Fr. Riccardo said. "We need to remember, as disciples of Jesus, we have no human enemy. The only enemy is Satan and his minions, and the weapons that we use are love and character and mercy and kindness and truth and beauty.
“He was eager to mobilize the Church, both here and in Agaña,” Fr. Riccardo continued. “And especially the laity, whom he saw as something like a new religious order: Men and women loaded with gifts, waiting for marching orders.”
Archbishop Byrnes was eager to remind everyone that while the Church's mission is to evangelize, "it's not enough to proclaim the Gospel," Fr. Riccardo said.
"There's also the work of re-creation," Fr. Riccardo said. "And that's the mission: to not just proclaim the Gospel, but to allow the Gospel to penetrate and perfect every dimension of human life: sports, health care, law, education, entertainment, you name it. And that's your task."
All of Archbishop Byrnes’ life is a lesson that to believe in Jesus Christ is to acknowledge that death has been defeated, forever, Fr. Riccardo said, and to live a life proclaiming Christ’s kingdom is the greatest life anyone could live.
“If you had been there on the Friday we call ‘Good,’ we would have thought it was a waste,” Fr. Riccardo said. “And we would have been wrong because the Cross redeemed the world. So our crosses, joined to Jesus’, help in the redemption of the world…
“Brothers and sisters, we do not know how much time we have. It might be decades, it might be weeks," Fr. Riccardo said. "Whatever time we have left, let’s be great. Let’s be the kind of men and women who will say to us, ‘It’s just enough to see you. You make me strong. You remind me who Jesus is. You encourage me to have hope, to trust him, to bank my life on him, to surrender to him day in and day out, and to live my life with joy, even when I’m sharing in the Cross.'”
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