David Ancell / Thursday January 08, 2004
Any orthodox Catholic would expect a bishop to be teaching his people the teaching of the Church. It is only fit that we congratulate Bishop Olmsted, the new Bishop of Phoenix, on his teaching by example. His teaching by example speaks volumes more than any “pastoral letter” ever would.
Bishop Olmsted spent Christmas Eve praying outside a Planned Parenthood abortion mill. He did not try to make a show of himself. He was just there. The article that is linked to here makes it seem that his presence resulted in increased presence at the event.
Some may liken this to suggesting the bishop should be serving at the soup kitchen. I’ve seen the Book of Acts quoted against this because it says “It is not right for us to neglect preaching the Word to wait on tables.” At one time, I would have agreed, and I still would agree if a bishop has busied himself with “social action” to the point that he was neglecting his duty to preach the word. However, a bishop can use acts like this to preach.
Do you remember the last “pastoral letter” your bishop wrote? Did you even bother to read it? I don’t even know if my bishop has written any letters lately. I’m not against the practice, but we do live in a time where bishops are perceived as aloof and out-of-touch. Pastoral letters rarely get much media attention (unless they are highly controversial), so they are ineffective at spreading the Gospel beyond those who take the time to read them. For a bishop to be an effective leader of his people, he must take the time to be among them.
This bishop took a clear stance. If he chooses to write a pastoral letter about pro-life issues, he is going to get people’s attention. His actions have shown that he is going to give the issues more than just lip service. His actions do a lot to encourage his priests to follow suit because they know that their bishop will back them up when some angry parishoner vents his/her anger. Let us congratulate Bishop Olmsted.
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