Installation of Bishop Albert Bahhuth as Episcopal Vicar of the San Fernando Pastoral Region

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles

St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church
North Hollywood, California
October 28, 2023

My brothers and sisters in Christ,¹

I’m very happy to be with all of you today for this important moment in the life of the family of God here in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, as we install our brother, Bishop Albert Bahhuth, as regional bishop for the San Fernando Region.

And I think it is so fitting that we are celebrating this Mass on the feast of the apostles, St. Simon and St. Jude!

As we know, in God’s plan of salvation, every bishop is appointed to carry on the mission that Jesus entrusted to his twelve apostles — to stand in his place and share in his power, as teachers and leaders, calling all men and women to salvation through our Lord’s tender mercy and love.

To be a bishop is a beautiful and noble vocation. I have to say that nobody “decides” to be a bishop, isn’t that correct? “One does not take the honor upon himself,” we read in the Scriptures, “but he is called by God.”²

It’s always an interesting moment when you get the phone call from the apostolic nuncio talking to you about the possibility of becoming a bishop, isn’t that correct? So you know what to do. So thanks be to God my brother bishops said yes to that phone call.

So in the Gospel that we just heard, Jesus goes up to the mountain and spends all night there praying before coming down and choosing twelve of his disciples to be “apostles.”

This is one of the great moments in history, as we see Jesus laying the foundations for his Catholic Church. The Church is God’s plan for humanity.

And as we notice, it all starts with prayer, with our Lord’s intimate conversation with the Father.

Then Jesus calls each of these twelve by name. He chose each, from before all ages, to be “one he sends.” That’s what the word “apostle” means.

So this is the mystery of vocation. And all of us, my dear brothers and sisters, have a vocation, every one of us is called by Christ from before we are in our mother’s wombs. 

That is what Jesus came to reveal: that we are loved by God with a love that begins in God’s own heart, a love that begins before the foundation of the world.

St. Paul tells us today: We are “no longer strangers,” we are “fellow citizens with the holy ones.” We belong to the city of saints, the city of God, his kingdom, which is his Church.

We belong to his family, to “the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles.”

The Church is not just another organization in society.

In the mystery of God’s plan, the Church is called to gather men and women from out of every nation, race, and language and to bring them together as one household, one family.

So, it makes sense that we love the Church, and we must pray every day for her mission of salvation, and we should allow the mystery of the Church to awaken more and more in our souls.

 This is the mystery of the Church and this is the Church’s mission. Now, Bishop Albert, God has chosen you to lead us and guide us, to be stewards of his mysteries.

Just as the Father sent Jesus into the world, and Jesus sent his apostles, now he sends you as his bishop. Not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Jesus.

He does not send you out to call the righteous, but to call sinners. He calls you to touch their hearts with his compassion, with his love.

He calls you to bring hope to those who are troubled by the cares of the world, he calls you to bring freedom to those who are ensnared by their weakness, by their sins.

The Gospel says today, “When day came, he called his disciples to himself.” My brothers and sisters, Jesus calls all of us to be with him, to be close to him, to walk with him in friendship and love.

All of us must keep our gaze on Jesus Christ. We must make Jesus our model and our mirror. When we look at Jesus in the passage of the Gospel, we see who it is that we are made to be. We are made to be like Jesus.

But if we are really paying attention to Jesus, we understand that everything we do should be an overflow from our life of prayer, our conversation with God.

Jesus told his disciples they “ought always to pray and not lose heart.”³ This is especially important for you, Bishop Albert.

And of course, you have our prayers in a special way as you start your new ministry.

I cannot end my homily without talking about St. Charles Borromeo, the patron of this beautiful church that we are in today. He was one of the Church’s great bishops, the leader of the Catholic reformation in the 16th century.

And St. Charles Borromeo gave this advice to pastors. He said: “My brothers, you must realize that for us Churchmen, nothing is more necessary than meditation. We must meditate before, during, and after everything we do. The prophet says: I will pray, and then I will understand. … In meditation we find the strength to bring Christ to birth in ourselves and in other men.”⁴

That’s some very good advice for bishops, isn’t it? But it’s good advice for all of us. To carry out our mission, to bring souls to Jesus, everything must start with prayer.

So, my dear brothers and sisters, especially today we pray for Bishop Albert!

We ask the saints, Simon and Jude, and all the apostles to inspire him. We ask that the holy bishops and martyrs intercede for him.

And we ask Holy Mary our Blessed Mother, the Queen of Apostles, to wrap him, and all of us, in the mantle of her tender love!