Bishop Barber’s Homily: “Hold Fast to Faith”

Hold Fast to Faith

by the Most Rev. Michael C. Barber, S.J.
Bishop of Oakland
Mass at the Baccalaureate Mass of the Holy Spirit
Commencement 2020
Thomas Aquinas College, California
May 29, 2021

“Remember the word I spoke to you: No slave is greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of My name, because they do not know the one who sent Me.” (Jn. 15:20-1)

Every seven years, the bishop of a diocese is required to go to Rome for his ad limina visit, to visit the Pope and the cardinals that are different heads of the Vatican departments or dicasteries. During the last years of the reign of Pope John Paul II, when Cardinal Ratzinger was still the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a group of bishops from the West Coast went over to Rome. I was not among them, but one of the bishops told me this story:

They went in to have their audience with Cardinal Ratzinger, and they went into the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. They were shown into this very large room, and up in front of the room was a giant bench that looked just like the bench of the Supreme Court, and Cardinal Ratzinger was seated there, with his assistant officials and archbishops of the Congregation. (When I went for my Ad Limina last year, I was in that room, and I immediately knew where we were; I said, “How many Jesuits have had their heresy trials in this room?”) Continuing the story: Cardinal Ratzinger, as head of the Congregation made a few introductory remarks, and then he said, “Are there any questions from you visiting bishops?”

One bishop raised his hand — he was a new bishop — and he says, “Your Eminence, what do we do? We’re attacked for being pro-marriage; we’re attacked for being pro-life; we’re attacked by pro-choice people; we’re attacked by people in pro-euthanasia, gay marriage, transgender; and they’re all violently against us. What do we do, Your Eminence?”

And Cardinal Ratzinger pressed his microphone on and said, “Yes, you will suffer.” Click. That’s it.

“Yes, you will suffer.”

Like the loyal Catholics living in Mexico in the 1920s, or during the time of Nazi Germany, or if you’re a Catholic living in China and faithful to the Pope, or in Vietnam, or Japan, or Africa, during the times of persecutions by emperors and kings, or if you were a Catholic in England in the time of Henry VIII or Queen Elizabeth, or if you were Catholic at the time of Jesus and his Apostles, you will suffer. But you will suffer with the help and infusion and the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit, and this will give you a sense of peace beyond all understanding. When you are under attack, remember the words of Jesus, Who prepared His apostles for their oncoming persecution: “Take courage. I have overcome the world.” We have to remember that.

For example, Fr. Christopher Magallanes in 1920s Mexico, not even 100 years ago: At that time the government of Mexico was hostile to the Church and made it a crime to say Mass, attend Mass, or receive Baptism. The Mexican government closed all seminaries, and yet Fr. Christopher Magallanes opened a clandestine seminary in his parish. Like Fr. Miguel Pro, Fr. Christopher went around celebrating underground Masses. Eventually arrested and falsely accused of inciting rebellion, he gave away his possessions to his executioners, then gave them absolution. Then, his last words before he was shot: “I am innocent, and I die innocent. I forgive with all my heart those responsible for my death, and I ask God that the shedding of my blood serve the peace of our divided Mexico.” That priest died radiating peace, peace he received through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

In Vietnam, in the times of the persecutions there, Fr. Andrew Dũng-Lạc, one of the first native Vietnamese priests: He was arrested multiple times, & held for ransom. The faithful raised the ransom money; he got released; he’d go to another village, another town, get arrested again, get ransomed again; and finally they just couldn’t raise any more money to ransom him, and he was executed by beheading. And yet his example has inspired generations of Vietnamese Catholics.

I went to Vietnam a couple of years ago at the invitation of one of the bishops. He asked me to give a talk to all the priests in his diocese whom he had brought together, and he translated for me. And he said, “Bishop Barber, notice, when you look at this group of priests: There are a lot of young ones, no middle-aged priests, and then about a dozen elderly.” He went on, “We have no middle-aged because the Church was shut down by the Communists in that period. And every elderly priest you see here spent at least 10 years in prison.” Those elderly priests radiated peace.

If you stand for the Faith, yes, you will suffer. But remember what Cardinal Newman said: “Those who take part with Peter are on the winning side.” Hear Christ say to you, “You will be my witnesses to the ends of the Earth.” Well, how do we handle that? What do we do? How am I going to do that?

Follow what St. Paul says in the letter to the Colossians: “You must hold fast to faith. Be firmly grounded and steadfast in it; unshaken in the hope promised you by the Gospel you have received.”

I just want to say that again: “You must hold fast to faith. Be firmly grounded and steadfast in it, unshaken in the hope promised to you by the Gospel you have received.” And if you do that, then the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

And one last thing: It’s not all bad news. It’s not all persecution. If it were all suffering, no one would join our religion, right? But the Lord sends us the encouragement and the consolation we need. He shows us His love, His sacred heart, is always there. One of the greatest encouragements I have received personally in the last few years is this: I have seen people who are willing to give up everything to become Catholic and enter the Church.

One example: my close friend of over 25 years; his name is Travis Moger. He and I were fellow Navy chaplains and officers. We both rose up the ranks together over a 20-year period. We both became captains in the Navy. Travis was a Southern Baptist minister, and because, of the 900 chaplains in the Navy, 300 are Southern Baptist, he was in line to become the next Admiral Chief of Chaplains for the Navy Reserve. He had a doctorate in history and was a professor at the U.S. Naval Academy. Had everything going for him.

Three years ago, he called me up, and said, “Mike, I have a surprise for you. My wife, my children, and I are going to be received into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil.” I almost dropped the phone. I was stunned. He had to give up becoming an admiral; not only that, the Southern Baptists would rescind their endorsement of him as a chaplain, and he would have to resign his commission as a naval officer. He couldn’t become a Catholic chaplain, because you’ve got to be a priest, and you can’t go from being a Baptist minister directly to being a Catholic priest; you’ve got to be a normal Catholic first, then go to seminary. So he had to abandon his Naval career, all for our faith.

And yet he was at total peace. I said to him, “How are you going to live? What are you going to do? How are you going to feed your family? You have three children!” He said, “I don’t know, but I know God will take care of me.” He had that peace beyond all understanding.

He wrote a fantastic one-page testimony, like Newman’s Apologia, only in one page — Why I Decided to Become a Catholic — And he gave it to all 300 Southern Baptist chaplains in the Navy. Just to quote a bit of what he said: “At the age of 50, I am leaving the ministry I love to follow Christ, Whom I love more.” He said, “An intensive study of the Bible and Christian history convinced me that the Catholic Church is the one, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic church; the Ark of Salvation founded on the rock of St. Peter; and entrusted with the Faith, handed down by Christ and His Apostles. I find her authority, doctrine, sacred liturgy, moral teachings, and prayer life in line with the teachings of the Bible and the historic Christian faith.”

He ended his testimony by saying this: “When I was serving on active duty in the Navy Chief of Chaplains office in the Pentagon and then at the U.S. Naval Academy, I spent many evenings researching and writing in the library of Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. Every time I entered the building, I would read the inscription next to the door, which has become the motto of my spiritual journey:

“Seek the truth. Come whence it may, cost what it will.”