Mass for the Dead: With you I am a Christian, for you I am a bishop

 Homily for the Mass for the Dead – Archbishop James Odongo

Notre Dame Seminary, New Orleans, December 5, 2020

Fr. Deogratias Ekisa, STD

The famous saying attributed to St. Augustine, “With you I am a Christian, for you I am a bishop” applies very much to any bishop and particularly to Archbishop James Odongo for whose peaceful repose we are celebrating this Mass.

For when Jesus sends the Twelve out on mission as today’s gospel tells us, it is because they are first and foremost his disciples; they are Christians.  He tells them to preach that “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  He asks them to “Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.  Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”  They can only give that which they have received, especially their own falling in love with Jesus.  For how can they preach that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand, if they don’t believe in it themselves?  How can they heal people, when they themselves are not healed, or at least are not availing themselves of the healing power of Jesus?

My first assignment as a priest was to serve as Archbishop James’ assistant.  I lived with him and worked with him every day for seven years.  That put me right at the centre of the diocese; I was thus able to see first-hand the inner workings of the Church, the behind-the-scenes decision-making, with all its blessings and curses, all its joyful moments and unavoidable tensions.  I was placed, as it were, in the sausage-making factory itself.

When some people visit the sausage-making factory, and see messy sausage-making process, they never eat sausage ever again.  I, on the other hand, came away, with a greater appreciation for the tough ministry and life of our shepherds.

From antiquity bishops have faced opposition and challenges to their ministry.  With the advent of social media that phenomenon has exponentially increased and unfortunately even among priests and seminarians.  Sometimes such opposition is certainly inspired by a love for the Church, for a return to its purity and mission.  Often however, the manner in which it is expressed does more harm to the unity of the Church than any intended good.  This is especially when there is a hermeneutic of writing off ALL bishops, because of the sins of SOME.

My close working with Archbishop James and others like our own Archbishops here, has instead taught me to realize what Shakespeare said of kings that “heavy is the head that wears the crown.”  This applies even more to bishops, for truly heavy is the head which wears the mitre.  Not only does this head have to carry its own weight of being a Christian who is pursuing holiness and admission into heaven for himself, but this head also has to do that for his flock.

Archbishop James was the fourth African bishop in Uganda and the first African ordained for Tororo at age 34.  He became the ordinary at 37, shepherding a relatively new mission diocese. A few years into his episcopate President Idi Amin expelled many foreigners including missionaries, leaving him with only two or three dozen priests to serve an area that today has two million Catholics.  In his episcopal ministry of 55 years, he served for 39 years as the ordinary with great discipline, and brought the Word and Sacrament to his people, as well as providing for their material needs, as mission bishops often have to do. 

Did he make mistakes in his ministry?  He most certainly did, being human and all, as well as not always having good information.  That is why I made it part of my ministry as his secretary to provide him with the information he needed to make those difficult decisions.  That is our job as priests, seminarians and laity; not only to pray for our shepherds, but also to provide them with the information they would otherwise not have.  But we don’t do that on Facebook, on Twitter or in speech that can only be described as gossip, cynicism and sarcasm.

Let us pray that the Lord receives Archbishop James with mercy and raise him to eternal life; let us pray that he gives him the reward promised to those who use their talents and gifts well, and return them to the father tenfold, a hundredfold.